Coming Home
by WriteChristineR
Summary: Set about a year in the future.  Alexis has just finished her first semester of college.  When Castle picks her up, he has some unexpected news.  One thing is for sure: this Christmas is going to be different from any other.  LOTS of fluff.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. Besides on DVD. Oh, and the title is a reference to a song from Sugarland's Christmas album... which I also do not own. The song, I mean. I do own the CD. Not that that's important._

_Author's Warning: This story is fluff topped with fluff rolled in sugar and then coated with sprinkles. I'm fully aware of that. And I claim no responsibility for any cavities or diabetic incidents that it might cause. More than anything else, it was just something I was working on to help me relax and get through finals in one piece. Which it did. I wasn't going to post it, but I figured... why not? I've been wanting to do a holiday story anyway, so here's my somewhat feeble attempt at one. If you're looking for something with much depth or actual plot... close this story. You won't like it. If you want something quick and simple to read with fairly short chapters and some cute family moments... you might actually like this. That's what I'm hoping, anyway._

_Oh, and if you've been reading my other chapter story, "It Happens," don't worry. I'm still working on it. I'm writing like 4 stories at once right now, and that one has me a little bit blocked... but my semester is over now and I have tons more time, so I promise to try to update it soon._

* * *

After a full six hours of studying in the library, she found herself back in her vacant dorm room, staring uncomprehendingly at a page of her notebook. She'd been over this material a hundred times, and she knew she should know it by now, but there were still bits that escaped her, and she needed to catch them and hold them captive, at least until her final was over.

But the information wasn't sticking with her, probably because her mind kept wandering. In three days, she couldn't help thinking, regardless of what happened on finals, she got to go home.

It was uncharacteristic of Alexis to think this way. She'd always been the hardworking girl. And she liked school. She'd made friends. She loved her classes, and most of her professors. She even loved having her own little space away from home. Somewhere that was just hers. Well, hers and her roommate's. But she couldn't help thinking of her dorm room that way, even after living there an entire semester: _away from home_.

Even though she was spending a great deal more time here than she was at the loft in New York, that was still the place she thought of as her home. She missed it, she realized. She missed her room, her bed, her friends, her grandmother, but, most of all, she missed her dad.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen him. She wasn't going to school that far away, and usually he made an appearance at least once a week. They'd have lunch or dinner, depending on the time, and fully catch up on what was going on in their lives. She'd tell him about school and her friends, and he'd tell her about his work shadowing Detective Beckett. Sometimes he'd bring an excerpt from his latest Nikki Heat novel for her to read over. And in between these visits, they called each other often. Any time one of them had news to report that simply couldn't wait until their next meeting, the other received a call. But even all of that was not the same as seeing him every day.

If she was at home, she knew she _never_ would have been able to study for six hours straight. He would have distracted her at least two or three times by now, forcing her to take breaks. And honestly, she knew she needed that now. Cramming more information into her brain was not going to work if she didn't give herself a chance to cool down and digest what she'd already stuffed inside. But she had a final tomorrow morning, and she didn't have time for a break.

Just as she began pouring over a page of notes for about the thirty-fifth time that night, her cell phone rang. Her heart leapt when she looked at the screen. _Dad._ Whether she had time to talk or not, his were not calls that she ever ignored.

"Hey," she answered, surprised by the level of exhaustion she heard in her own voice.

"Hi sweetie, thought you might need a break from studying. And it sounds like I was right." She could hear the concern in his voice, and was a little surprised at how much he'd been able to glean from the single word she'd spoken. But only a little. He was her dad, after all.

"I'm fine," she insisted, though she felt tears brimming in her eyes at the sound of his voice. Either she missed him even more than she'd realized or she was so unbelievably stressed that her emotions were no longer making sense. Maybe both.

"What final do you have tomorrow?"

"Chemistry."

"Oh. That's an important one, isn't it?"

"They're all important, but yeah, it actually counts toward my major."

"I'm sure you'll be fine."

She sighed. "I don't know. I'm getting there, but it's really hard."

"So you're still coming home on Thursday, right?"

"Yeah. My finals will all be done by then, and I'm ready to get out of here for a little while."

"Great. I can't wait to see you. I've got the evening all planned."

She smiled. She was legitimately counting down the hours. "I'm sure you do."

She could hear the grin in his voice. "I have so much to tell you."

Alexis frowned. How much could he possibly have to tell her? It had been just over a week since she'd seen him last. Just _over_ a week. Maybe that was why she missed him so much more than she usually did. It had been longer than usual since they'd seen each other. But they'd been talking on the phone…occasionally. Come to think of it, she'd been so distracted with finals that she hadn't realized how little they'd talked. She wished she could say she had a lot to tell him too, but she'd been pretty much engrossed in schoolwork lately. That didn't make for many interesting stories. "Exciting cases lately?" she asked instead.

He hesitated. "Yeah," he finally said. "You could say that. I'll tell you everything on Thursday."

A smile flicked across her face. She knew her dad, and that tone… something had happened. Something good. "Tell me now."

"Don't you have to study?"

If this was _his_ excuse, he really was keeping something from her. "Dad?"

"I will tell you _everything_ on Thursday," he said cryptically. "Until then, what have you been up to?"

She sighed. "Just studying like crazy."

"Oh, come on. What else?"

"That's pretty much it."

"No breaks?"

"I watched a movie with Laura and Amber last night."

"Better."

She smiled. She sometimes didn't realize how much she missed her dad until they talked. He was her best friend, and if anything, the little bit of distance between them had brought them closer than ever. She confided in him even more than she had before. He even confided in her from time to time. They talked for almost an hour, about everything and nothing, before she went back to studying, more anxious than ever for Thursday to come, and all but forgetting about whatever the vague news was that he had to tell her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Prepare yourself for another chapter's worth of pure fluff. If you read the first chapter... I'm sure you're expecting it. If anything, it's only going to get more sugary, so be ready for it. _

_Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! This got a better response than I ever expected, and I love you all for it. So without further ado... more semi-Christmas-related fluff. I'm going to start trying to update a little faster, but I'm trying not to let it take my time away from the other story I'm working on... so we'll see what happens. Hope you like this!__

* * *

_

She suppressed a squeal when she read the text, given that she was in a dorm and it probably wouldn't have been appreciated by her neighbors. _Outside your building. Come let me in._

Everything she was planning to take home for the long-awaited month between the fall and spring semesters was already packed in bags, purses, and one huge suitcase. All that was left was to carry it down and try to jam it all into the car.

She grabbed her key card and flew down the stairs, deciding that the elevator would have taken too long. Once in the parking lot, she looked around for his car, but didn't see it. It only took a second before she spotted him getting out of the passenger door of a car that was decidedly not his. But her instinct was to hug first and ask questions later, so she ran out into the cool December air and flung her arms around him. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, pumpkin," he told her softly.

When their hug ended and he was holding her out at arm's length, as if to take a good look at her and see if she'd changed, she asked the obvious question, the one that still hadn't been addressed. "Who are you with?"

"Oh!" he said, as if he'd forgotten. He opened the passenger's door again and asked the interior, "Why are you still in the car?"

The tall figure of a woman she'd often seen, although not in months, stepped out of the car looking a little embarrassed. Alexis could've hugged her too, but she resisted, reminding herself that she didn't know her as well as she sometimes felt like she did after having heard so many of her dad's stories. "Detective Beckett!" she greeted her instead. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"We had a potential suspect to interview out this way," Castle explained.

"Sort of," Alexis could have sworn she heard Beckett mutter under her breath.

"And," he continued, "I didn't want to be late, so I convinced Detective Beckett to come along."

Alexis looked to the detective for confirmation. She raised her eyebrows and smiled sheepishly, giving the girl the feeling that her dad's story was only partially accurate. "I thought maybe you could use an extra hand for your stuff," she supplied, adding to the story that Alexis could tell still wasn't complete.

Alexis's smile was still bright, and she doubted it would fade for awhile. "I'm glad you came." Flurries of snow were starting to come down, and one landed on her ungloved hand. "Okay, it's cold out here, let's go inside," she said, leading the two of them to the door of her building. Her dad followed close behind her, and Beckett close behind him—closer than normal, or was it her imagination?

She swiped her card to let them inside and then led them to the elevator. Her dad had been here before, so he knew where he was going, but Beckett didn't. "You'll get to see my room," Alexis chattered.

The truth was, she did sometimes get a little nervous around the detective. She liked her. She really did. She hadn't spent much time with her, but she respected, and somewhat idolized, her more than any other woman in her life. Although she loved her grandmother, was close to her, and went to her for certain things, Beckett was different. She was a little more real, a little more down-to-earth, and, although she'd never have told her grandmother, or even her father this, Beckett was a little more like the kind of person Alexis wanted to become. Because of this, she wanted more than anything for Beckett to like her. And because of _this_, she tended to get a little shy and awkward around her, try as she might to hide it.

Beckett smiled, but quickly looked away, seeming to fascinate herself with her shoes. Alexis's heart sank. Although she desperately wanted the older woman to like her, she sometimes got the feeling that this was very much not the case.

"Is Kayla still around?" her dad asked, referring to Alexis's roommate, breaking down a little bit of the awkwardness that Alexis wasn't sure whether he noticed.

"No, she left yesterday."

"So you've had the place to yourself. That's nice."

"I _usually_ have the place to myself." She turned to Beckett, explaining. "Kayla goes home a lot. Or she's out with friends. I don't actually see her much."

"Sounds like a good roommate," Beckett responded, smiling.

"Yeah, I don't mind. And the way the building's set up, there's another room kind of adjoining, with a little living room thing between them, and Laura and Caitlin, the two girls who live there, are usually around. Plus my friend Amber lives across the hall."

"Sounds like you're pretty well set, then." Beckett grinned, her face becoming a little reminiscent. "I remember my first college roommate…"

Alexis smiled at her, genuinely interested, but she saw her dad's eager puppy dog face and knew that the detective would stop. She did.

"You know, maybe I'll tell you that story some time when your dad's not around," she amended.

Alexis grinned at the promise behind that comment. Maybe Beckett didn't dislike her after all. "I'd like that." She led the pair of adults down the hall a short distance to her room, and let them inside.

They were soon met by a tall girl with curly, light brown hair and dark-framed glasses. "You leaving, Alexis?" she asked.

"Yeah, in a minute."

"Hi Laura, good to see you," Castle greeted her.

"Hi, Mr. Castle." The girl smiled at Detective Beckett. "Is this your mom?" she asked Alexis.

Alexis blushed. "No. This is… my dad's friend. Detective Beckett."

"Kate," she said with a small wave, directing the comment as much at Alexis as her roommate. "You can call me Kate."

"I'm Laura," the girl said, "One of Alexis's roommates." She pointed to the room on the left. "I live over there, with my roommate Caitlin. She left this morning."

"Last one here, huh?" Castle asked her.

"Yeah. I don't mind."

"Okay sweetie," Castle interjected, "let's get your stuff."

Alexis nodded and led them into her room where her bags were in a pile between the two beds.

"Wow," Beckett said, looking around. "It's… neat."

Alexis laughed. "I cleaned it up when I was packing, plus half my stuff is in these bags."

"Yeah, I'll say," Castle said, still gaping at the pile Alexis was planning on taking home. "I kept telling Beckett how un-materialistic you are, that you wouldn't have that much stuff…" he turned to the cop, eyes sparkling. "Turns out you were right."

She raised her eyebrows at Castle, a playful I-told-you-so face. "I just remember how much stuff I always had to take home with me on breaks." She smiled at Alexis. "It's a girl thing."

Before Alexis could come up with anything to say to that, Castle spoke again. "Then it is good that we have an extra pair of hands," he said, smiling, no, _beaming_ at her.

Alexis looked at Beckett, expecting her to be annoyed, or at least wearing her signature defiant smirk, but she was smiling. Genuinely.

Confused but unaware of how to broach the subject, and half-convincing herself that she was imagining all of these crazy things, that she just hadn't seen her dad and Beckett together in awhile and she'd forgotten how they normally interacted, she grabbed as many bags as she could and headed for the door, calling to her roommate that she'd see her in January.

Her dad and Beckett were with her, carrying the rest of her stuff, when she arrived at the elevator, not that she'd waited for them. She was anxious to get to the car now, partly because her bags were heavy and partly because with the three of them alone in a confined space she felt like she had a better chance of figuring out what, if anything, was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

_Prepare yourself for another fluff-filled chapter. That's all I have to say._

"We're gonna have to put some of these in the back seat," Beckett said, opening her car's trunk, "but we should stuff as much as we can in here so there's room for Alexis."

It turned out that most of her stuff did fit in the trunk, and only her two relatively large Vera Bradley purses had to ride in the back seat beside her for the slightly less than two hour drive back to New York. It didn't escape Alexis that she was riding in the seat where countless criminals had probably sat before her, and she found it a little creepy, but didn't say anything, not wanting to offend Beckett or make her feel bad about the fact that they'd taken her car.

"I can't wait to get home," Alexis breathed once they were on the road. "I just want to see the loft again, and my room, and my stuff."

Her dad and Beckett exchanged a look, and he turned back to look at her, a nervous smile on his lips. "About that…"

She had a fleeting moment of panic. "You didn't get rid of my stuff, did you?"

Castle's eyes widened and he held up a hand, as if to stop her. "Whoa, sweetie, of course not. Who are you talking to right now? When have I ever gotten rid of _anything_, unless you forced me to?"

Alexis smiled, relieved. "Good point. What was the 'about that,' then?"

"We—" he began, but cut himself off, restarting his thought. "_I_ was just wondering if you'd be completely opposed to the idea of not going straight home."

"And doing what instead?"

"I thought maybe we'd do some Christmasing," he said, using the term he'd coined when Alexis was little. "Pick out the tree, maybe do a little shopping?"

"You still don't have the tree up yet? Dad, it's like a week 'til Christmas."

"Did you think I was going to pick it out without you? We have chosen our Christmas tree together since you were old enough to point your finger. Just because you go to college doesn't mean that's going to change."

Alexis rolled her eyes, but she smiled. In truth, although it was a little late in the month, she was glad her dad hadn't gotten the tree without her. It was something they'd always had fun doing together. "Okay, we can go pick the tree and our decoration—I'm assuming you didn't do that without me, either?"

Castle's face became very serious. "I have done nothing Christmas-related whatsoever. The loft is still thoroughly undecorated. I was waiting for you."

"Well then, let's do those two things and then go back to the loft and start the decorating. Maybe watch a couple of Christmas movies." The fact that her father had done nothing Christmas-related meant that there would be a lot to do even once she was home, but it felt good to have something to accomplish that had nothing to do with her classes.

Castle nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Alexis suddenly remembered the woman driving who had been unexpectedly quiet pretty much since they'd arrived. Not that Beckett was usually loud, exactly, but it seemed weird that she'd barely said anything at all. "What about Detective Beckett?" she asked.

"I thought she could come with us," Castle said.

_Come with us?_ To say Alexis was surprised at this suggestion was an understatement. Never, _ever_, had anyone accompanied her and her dad in choosing a tree. Ever. Not Gina. Not her mother. Not even her grandmother. Granted, none of these women were exactly the type that would have enjoyed standing outside in the cold staring at pine trees, but the point was that this was something she and her dad had always done together, just the two of them. As was their tradition, usually on the same day as tree selection, of canvassing store after store until they found the perfect new decoration: something unique, Christmasy, and often quirky, for their apartment. For Detective Beckett to come along would be… unprecedented.

"If you don't mind, that is," Beckett added quickly, almost nervously. _Nervously?_ "I don't want to intrude on your family time."

Alexis heard the note in Beckett's voice, the one it seemed that she'd been trying to hide. She wanted to come. She wanted to be a part of their tradition this year. She wanted, it seemed for _Alexis_ to accept _her._ Alexis couldn't have said no even if she'd wanted to. "No no, I don't mind at all," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. It'll be fun." Part of her genuinely believed this, while another part of her was dreading the weird, awkward feeling that still seemed to radiate through the car.

Beckett smiled, a real smile, and Castle seemed to glow with joy. "That's great, honey," he told his daughter. "It _will_ be fun."

Another awkward moment of silence passed, and Alexis couldn't take it any longer. Even if she was reading way too much into the situation, even if she was about to embarrass herself by asking, she had to know. "Okay, someone want to tell me what's going on here?"

She'd expected a confused look from at least one of the adults, but they both just smiled. Well, her dad _just_ smiled. Beckett smiled and actually blushed.

If there'd been any doubt in her mind that something had happened between them, it was now extinguished.

But still neither of them said anything, so Alexis kept fishing. "Are you two _together?_"

Her dad's grin widened and Beckett's blush deepened. She took that as her answer.

"Oh my God! Since when?"

"Are you mad?" Even as Castle asked this, he couldn't seem to completely wipe the smile from his face.

"That depends. Exactly how long have I been out of the loop?"

"Since Monday."

"_Monday?_ Dad, you couldn't have called?"

"I did call," he reminded her with a smirk. "But I wanted to wait until I saw you so I could tell you in person."

"How on _earth_ did you not tell me when we talked? Since when can you keep a secret, especially one this big?"

"Are you mad?" he repeated.

"_Mad?_ I'm annoyed that you waited so long to tell me, but…" She cut herself off and actually squealed. "Dad, this is so great!"

"I know!" her dad said, squeezing his daughter's hand. He seemed about a second away from squealing like Alexis had. "I'm so glad you're happy about it."

Beckett's face was still a little pinker than it normally should have been, but the beet-red of a minute ago had faded. She was now grinning as well, almost as brightly as Castle was. In the reasonably small amount of time Alexis had spent with Detective Beckett, she'd never seen her actually grin before. It was nice.

"So are you going to spend Christmas with us, Detective?"

"Alexis. Please. Call me Kate."

Alexis giggled. "Sorry. I'll try to get used to that. Are you, though?"

"We haven't really talked about it. But if I happened to be invited, I'm sure I would accept."

"Well, consider yourself invited."

Smiling, she looked to Castle for confirmation.

"What are you looking at me for?" he asked, laughing. "Of course you're invited. And your dad should come too, at least for dinner, if he doesn't have other plans. Christmas should be spent with family."

She nodded. "I'll ask him."

"What do you usually do for Christmas?" Alexis asked.

She shrugged. "Usually I just go to my dad's for dinner. It's not really a big thing. We haven't even exchanged gifts since…" Her glowing smile changed. It didn't entirely fade, but it became more subdued, almost sad. "Since my mom," she said simply.

Castle put a hand on her arm, but she shook off, giving him a quick shake of her head that seemed to say "Not now." Castle understood and turned back to his daughter, giving her a look that she understood to mean she should change the subject.

"Then you're in for a treat this year," Alexis said, forcing a bright tone that came out just a little too over-the-top. "We do Christmas right. Don't we, Dad?"

"Oh yeah. Biggest tree we can find, good music, great food, excellent drinks for those of us old enough to partake, and, of course, lots of presents."

_"Sounds like a Castle holiday," Beckett said, the sarcastic smile that Alexis actually recognized returning to her face. She liked how happy Beckett had been, and she was thrilled, if a little surprised, that this happiness seemed to come from being with her dad, but at the same time, it was refreshing for Alexis to know that not everything had changed while she'd been away._

* * *

_I'm sure most of you saw this coming. I don't think I made it much of a secret what Castle's surprise was. But I hope you're enjoying it nonetheless. Either way, shoot me a review and I'll love you forever. :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Yes. Let the record show that I'm posting a new chapter on Christmas morning. Well, afternoon, but still. I have a bit of an obsession problem. Granted, I didn't really write much of this today, and what I did was while I was waiting for my new iPod touch (YAY!) to sync with my laptop. So... yeah. Hope you like it. :)_

"This one," Alexis said definitively, pointing to the tree they'd come back to at least four times now. "It's perfect. We're not going to do better. It's tall, it's full, there are no bare spots, it's got a nice shape… I don't know why we haven't bought it yet."

"We still might be able to find a better one," her dad protested, still looking around.

"How? What could possibly be better? How is this tree in any way imperfect?"

"It's not that it's imperfect, it's just that…"

"You're stalling. It's cold. Let's just get the tree."

"You can't rush these things."

"Dad, we've been standing out here for almost an hour. We're not rushing. This is a good tree." She turned to Kate. "Don't you think so?"

She shrugged. "Looks good to me."

"See? Come on. Let's get it."

"Are you sure?"

"_Yes."_

"Kate?"

She nodded. "Alexis is right, it's a nice tree. Let's just get it."

He raised his eyebrows. "So both of my girls agree that this is _the_ tree?"

Alexis nodded solemnly and Kate smiled. "But how in the world are we going to get it back to your place?" she wondered. "First of all, it's still in the ground, and even after we cut it down it's never going to fit on top of my car."

"Leave that to me. You girls stay with the tree, I'll be right back." He disappeared back in the direction they'd come from.

"He's such a perfectionist sometimes," Alexis complained once her dad was out of earshot. "I mean, I'm that way too, but about different things."

Beckett smiled. "I know. Your dad can have… interesting priorities. He's a good guy, though."

"I know. He's a great guy. He's my dad." It came out more defensively than Alexis had intended, and although she meant it, as she heard it leave her mouth she almost wished she could take it back.

"Are you sure you don't mind that I'm here?" Kate asked, actual concern showing on her face. "Honestly? I know this is something you and your dad usually do together. I don't want to get in the way of that."

Alexis thought about it for a second. She liked Kate, and she didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she'd asked her to be honest, and she wanted to honor that. "No," she finally said. "I don't mind. This is fun. Sure, it's something we usually do just the two of us, but… maybe it's time for a change."

"I just… I get that tradition is important, and I don't want to mess with all of yours."

"You're not. I promise. And besides, it's good to start some new traditions every once in awhile."

"I really haven't had a big Christmas celebration since I was… not too much older than you are now, I guess. I really don't have a lot of family. Neither of my parents had any brothers or sisters, I was an only child, and my grandparents all passed away years ago." Alexis started to say something, but Kate stopped her. "No, thanks, but I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm just trying to explain something. My dad's really the only family I have, and after my mom died, neither one of us was interested in celebrating much. All holidays, but Christmas especially. My mom always loved Christmas, but that last year…" She shrugged. "It didn't go so well. I didn't want to be reminded of it and Dad… he just didn't want to celebrate."

"What happened?" Alexis asked timidly.

"Ahh," Kate seemed to briefly consider telling Alexis the story, but cut herself off. "I don't want to talk about it," she decided stoically. "Not now. The point is, I decided, your dad helped convince me, that I'm ready to have a real Christmas again." Her voice dropped, to the point where it was almost difficult for Alexis to hear. "It's what my mom would've wanted." She shook her head quickly and her voice returned to normal. "So anyway, I'm kind of starting some of my own traditions, and your dad's trying to include me in some of yours. So that's why I'm here."

"That, and the fact that you're dating my dad," Alexis said with a smile.

"And that. Is that weird for you? I kind of get the whole single father thing, and while, granted, my dad wasn't single until I was a little older than you are, so it's different… I think it would be weird for me if he started dating again. Even now."

Alexis shook her head. "You're right, it's different. It's totally different. My mom's still alive, and I still see her from time to time. I was little when she and my dad got divorced… I barely remember them being together. My dad's been dating for most of my life. And yeah, he's tried to keep me out of that part of his life, but still, he tells me some stuff, and I know he's never really been single for long. You… you're actually significantly less weird than any woman I ever remember him being with."

She cocked her head with a half-frown. "Thanks?"

Alexis giggled. "I mean, your relationship is less weird. More stable. You've known each other for more than five minutes."

"Over three years."

"Yeah, see? Three years. Do you know how many people have been consistently in my dad's life for that long?"

Kate shook her head.

"Like, none. Me, Gram, you… and that might be it. He has a short attention span, even when it comes to people. But you're different."

"It's not _just _me. He's known everyone else at the precinct for that long too."

"Yeah, you work with some pretty cool people. Dad knows that, but do you honestly believe he's gone to the precinct almost every day for this many years just to hang out with Detectives Ryan and Esposito? Them, Dr. Parish, Captain Montgomery… they're his friends now, but they're all in his life because they're in your life. You're his main focal point. You have been from the very beginning."

"I don't know about that."

"Don't you?" Alexis shrugged. "I do."

"Are you girls talking about me?"

Kate actually jumped, which answered his question. Alexis had seen him coming and just laughed.

"This is the tree, boys," he said to the two big men flanking him, one with a saw. "You already have our address."

"Of course," the one without the saw said. "Thank you, Mr. Castle."

"You remember where to find the key?"

He nodded. "The tree will be waiting for you when you get home."

_"Perfect. Okay girls, let's go. We've got decoration shopping to accomplish." He slipped one arm around Kate's waist and the other over his daughter's shoulders and began leading them back to the car._

* * *

_Mmkay, my family's demanding that I make twice-baked potatoes now, so I'd better keep this short. I need opinions though, and who better to ask than my awesome readers? :) Clearly I have some more stuff in mind for this story, but it's getting longer and taking longer to write than I intended. Since today's Christmas, and in the Castles' world it's still about a week before... it's obviously going to be well after Christmas by the time Christmas comes along in the story. So I'm curious whether I should keep this going or not. My major issue is if I'm working on this, I'm not putting as much focus on my other story ("It Happens"... I'm especially interested in opinions from those of you who are also reading that, although even if you're not I still want to know what you think), which I'm a bit prouder of and I feel like people are liking more. And I don't know how many people are going to want to keep reading a Christmas story a week or more after Christmas is over. I don't want to just bail on the story if people are liking it, but part of me would just like to focus on the other story. So... please review, y'know, how you like the chapter, as usual, and also whether you think I should continue this. :) Thanks a bunch, and merry Christmas!_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Apparently I'm back in a big way! Two updates on two different stories in less than 24 hours. I'm proud of that. :)

So, Coming Home is back by popular demand. :) And the fact that it is once again getting to be Christmas time! A few quick notes (or, knowing me, probably not so quick...)

I was going to post this story later tonight, but then I looked out the window and it was snowing. So I took that as an omen that I had to post it now.

Since I started this about a year ago now, some of it's not quite so canon anymore. But the fact that it's about a year into the future (oddly) still holds, because originally I was thinking that Alexis would be starting college this year, but clearly I was wrong... so it's set next year. I must admit that that I seriously hope Castle and Beckett get together BEFORE next December, but that's where we are with this story. :) Also, this time last year I would never, ever, ever have anticipated that Montgomery wouldn't be with us anymore, so for the purpose of this story he's still alive. Which is actually a nice little happy, fluffy detail.

You know what? Read now. I'll continue my ramblings after the chapter. Hope you enjoy the continuation! It's certainly been long enough. A big virtual hug goes out to anyone who actually started reading this last year and is continuing it now. :) I love you for your patience, but I'm sorry you had to be _that_ patient.

* * *

"Maybe we should try again tomorrow," Alexis sighed as the trio exited the fourth shop that they'd scoured in search of the perfect Christmas decoration.

_"No," _Castle protested firmly. "We always get the decoration on tree day. We'll find it. I know we will."

"Well, can't we just pick something?" She allowed her dad to lead her and Kate into yet another store. "I'm tired of shopping, it's cold, and I still haven't officially been home yet."

"No, we cannot just 'pick something'," he insisted. "You know better than that. This is _the _decoration. It defines the whole holiday. Must I remind you about the year of the kitty cat tree ornament?"

Alexis groaned. Although she didn't completely buy into her dad's silly superstitions, she remembered the year all too well.

"What?" Beckett asked, a slight smirk on her lips.

"I was nine," Alexis sighed. "I was in a spelling bee that year and I was running late, but _Dad_ here insisted that we had to pick out our decoration before he'd take me. So I grabbed the first thing I saw, an ornament of a cat wearing a Santa hat, and managed to convince him that I loved it. Then that Christmas… didn't exactly go well."

"Didn't go well?" Castle repeated, eyes wide. "Understatement. Try unmitigated disaster."

"What happened?" Kate asked, grinning because both Castle and Alexis were. Sometimes the worst holidays made the best stories.

"It was right when I first started dating Gina," Castle said. Alexis noticed him look away from Kate guiltily and decided to take over the story.

"And my mom decided to surprise us by showing up unannounced," she supplied. "She walked in while we were making dinner. It was awful. Dad was so preoccupied trying to keep them both from killing each other that he forgot about the food and most of it ended up burnt beyond recognition. But all the good restaurants were either closed or booked, we didn't have much food in the house and we couldn't risk leaving the two of them alone together while we tried to find an open grocery store, so Christmas dinner consisted of box Mac and Cheese and some week-old leftover pizza. Gram showed up late with her newest flame and brought a _lot_ of spiked eggnog, which went over way too well with everyone. Then it turned out that Gina and my mom bought me the same American Girl doll, which basically resulted in the world's most ridiculous drunken bitch fight."

Kate laughed. "All because of a Christmas ornament?"

"All because of a Christmas ornament," Castle repeated somberly.

"That's a lot of pressure to put on a decoration."

"Tell me about it." He continued to look at Kate, but his smile hardened. "Wait a second," he finally said. "I know why we haven't found anything yet. You're not helping."

She shrugged. "I was trying to stay out of the way. This is your tradition, not mine."

"Yes, but if you're going to be part of our Christmas this year, you're going to need to get involved in the traditions. Clearly the decoration elves know this, and they won't let us find the right thing until you help."

"Decoration elves," she repeated, raising her eyebrows.

He nodded.

"You are certifiable."

"But you still like me." He shot her a flirtatious grin.

"For some reason." She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Okay, I'll help look. But not because I'm afraid of the 'decoration elves'. Because I think it's a cute tradition, and I want Alexis to be able to get home at some point in the relatively near future."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself," Castle quipped, but by that point Kate was meandering her way to another part of the store.

"What about this?" Alexis asked her dad, overturning a snow globe with the New York skyline inside of it.

"No, too generic," he said. "That's more of a tourist item."

She sighed, but he was right. What did they need a snow globe of the skyline for when all they had to do was look out the window to see it?

After a good fifteen minutes of looking, this store didn't seem any more promising than the others had. Alexis had just begun searching the aisles for her dad so she could suggest another change of location when she spotted Kate, alone in a remote corner, apparently mesmerized by something.

She walked over to the detective and saw that she was staring at a tiny Christmas village. There were miniature buildings with warm light emanating from the windows, miniature people, and a tiny train that circled the perimeter. "Pretty," Alexis said softly.

Kate jumped. "Oh, hey. It is, isn't it? My grandmother used to have something like this. She'd set it up around the tree every year." She shrugged and looked at Alexis. "Just… a little nostalgic, you know?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She smiled. "It is pretty, though."

"Any luck?" her dad's voice came from behind them.

"Not really," she said with a shrug. "I think it's another bust."

"What are you looking at here?"

"Just a little Christmas village," Kate said.

"I like it," he said. He moved closer, studying each one of the tiny buildings. Eventually he grinned and pointed to one in particular. "Look at this!"

Alexis leaned in to see it and felt a smile spread over her face. It was a tiny, snow-covered police station, all decorated for the holidays. "I think this might be it," she said, nodding for Beckett to take a look.

The detective saw what they were looking at and laughed. "Mini-precinct," she said. "I like it."

"So everyone agrees?" Castle asked, his face suddenly very serious. "This is the one?"

"This is it," Alexis confirmed.

"Looks good to me," Kate agreed.

"Alright, excellent. Now we just have to find the box."

On a shelf near the miniature town were the boxes for each of the tiny buildings that had been set up. There were houses, apartments, toy stores, town halls… every type of building you could imagine was represented. Except the police station. It didn't appear to be there. "I don't see it," she said as she rearranged a stack of post offices in case the police station was buried within.

"Maybe they'll let us buy the display," Castle mused, apparently coming up empty as well.

"No, you don't want the display," Beckett argued, still searching. "You want a new one, one that hundreds of people haven't messed with. Like…" she took a box from the back of the top shelf, "…this one."

"That's it!" Castle beamed. "Nice! You saved Christmas!"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure it needed saving, but I'm happy to protect you from the evil decoration elves."

He raised a hand in protest. "They're only evil if you choose the _wrong _decoration. Since we've found such a perfect one, they'll make sure our holiday is also perfect."

"Good," Kate smiled. "I could use a perfect holiday."

"As could we all. So come on, let's buy it." Castle took the box from Kate and started toward the cash register, walking next to her.

Alexis hung back a little, watching the two adults together. She could see how happy they both were, and she was glad. They deserved that. But as much as she liked Kate, she wasn't sure she was okay with her getting involved with all of the traditions she had with her dad. She wanted to be mature and accept the change, and more than that she wanted to be content with it, but she couldn't help feeling a little bit replaced.

It was different with Kate than it had been with any of her dad's other girlfriends, even Gina, even after they were married. He looked at Kate differently. Acted differently when he was with her. Talked about her all the time when they weren't actually together. And although his romantic involvement with the detective was very new, all of these things had been true for years.

With everyone else he'd ever been with, he had always kept their relationship very separate from his relationship with Alexis. Apparently with Kate, this was different as well. She was coming into their traditions, into their Christmas. She'd not only come Christmas tree and decoration shopping with them, but she'd really been the one to find the decoration. She'd led them to the Christmas village in the first place, and she'd found the box with the tiny police station. It was clear that this year was going to be different. And Alexis wasn't sure that was okay.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, a few more little, reasonably unimportant notes. One, I know these chapters are a lot shorter than my updates for most of my more recent stories have been. That's on purpose. I think it makes it quicker and easier to read and to write, which is kind of the point with this story, and the hope is that if I post short-ish chapters, I should be able to update more often. And then maybe (hopefully!) actually finish close to Christmas so I don't leave everyone hanging for another year. I'm really going to try to avoid that.

Also, it's been quite awhile since I've written from Alexis's POV. I'm really just hoping that I'm still decent at it. When I first started writing Castle fic, she was hands-down the easiest character for me to write, but I've mostly been writing from Castle or Beckett's POV lately, so I'm out of practice with Alexis. Hoping her voice still feels authentic. Thoughts?

I guess that's really it. In the past, December has been a really great writing month for me, so I'm hoping that continues this year. My VERY FIRST Castle fic that I ever even attempted (but never finished and never posted, and probably never will because it was pretty plot-less...) was actually a Christmas story. And then I started officially writing Castle fic in December of last year. So Castle and fanfic and December and Christmas all seem to mesh quite well for me. So hopefully I'll be pretty consistent on the updates. :) Thanks for reading, and I'd love it if you reviewed!


	6. Chapter 6

"I am old Kris Kringle," Santa sang from the TV screen as Alexis took Christmas ornaments out of their storage boxes, "I'm the king of jingling." She'd honed her system years ago. Classic bulbs went in one pile, more whimsical shapes in another, and there was a third pile for ornaments that represented some kind of milestone, from the "It's a Girl!" ornament from 1994 to the one she'd recently picked up at her school's bookstore with the name of her college on it. These, she would eventually arrange chronologically.

Kate had stopped decorating altogether and was perched on the arm of the couch, mesmerized. "I can't even tell you how long it's been since I've seen this movie," she remarked.

"You've got to watch the classics every year," Castle admonished, pausing in his struggle with a tangled string of lights to smile at her fascination. "It's not Christmas without them."

"I tend to agree," she said. "It's just been awhile for me."

"Well, I'd say it's time to remedy that." He managed to undo the last knot in the light string, and held them up triumphantly. "In the meantime, wanna plug these in for me so we can make sure they work before we put them on the tree?"

She nodded, and grabbed the end of the string with the plug. "That's a lot of advanced planning for you," she remarked. "I'm impressed."

Castle was ready to accept the compliment without further discussion, but Alexis piped in on the subject before he could. "Comes from experience," she said. "Two years ago he put all the lights on the tree only to find out that none of them worked."

"And then took all the lights _off_ the tree again," he sighed, as though even mentioning the experience tired him.

Kate laughed and plugged the string into the nearest outlet. The tiny bulbs lit up simultaneously. "They work," she told Rick, even though he could see that plainly.

He smiled. "Excellent. Unplug."

She did, and he took the light string over to the tree.

"Can I help?" she asked. "I don't want to just sit here while you guys are working."

Castle smirked. "No, that's my job."

She rolled her eyes. "Exactly."

"Well, this is kind of a one-man job. Why don't you help Alexis with the ornaments? There are a ton of them, I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Alexis wasn't at all sure that she'd appreciate it. Organizing the ornaments before they went on the tree was her job. It was a task she'd invented and perfected years ago, and she usually had to argue with her dad about its necessity. Until this year, apparently, he'd never been able to understand why needed to organize the ornaments when they were just going to get jumbled together when they put them on the tree. Of course, it was necessary because this way they could arrange them on the tree more consistently: not too many bulbs or novelty shapes in one place, and the event ornaments in near-chronological order, so that looking at the tree would be something like looking at a scrapbook. But she'd never been able to make her dad understand that before. She might appreciate it now if she believed that his willingness to give her a helper had anything to do with the importance of the task. But she didn't.

Even if she doubted her dad's motives, she didn't want to be rude, so she nodded and forced a smile. "The ornaments are in here," she explained, gesturing to the dark green storage box. "You can take them out of the boxes and put them in these piles. Classic bulbs, more whimsical shapes like candles, stars, whatever, and milestones." She pointed to each of her piles in turn. "The milestones get organized chronologically. I'll do that. You just put them in the piles. Okay?"

She nodded. "That's quite a system you've got there. Yours, I assume?"

Alexis smiled and nodded toward her dad. "Well, it's definitely not his."

Kate laughed. "I didn't think so. I should be able to handle that though."

Alexis nodded and began lining up the milestone ornaments by year.

"Okay girls," Castle posed as he tried to wind the light string through tree branches, "here's a question for you." He nodded toward the TV, where _Rudolph _was still playing. "If you could be anyone from this movie, who would you be?"

"Really?" Beckett asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're posing philosophical questions about _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_?"

He shrugged. "I know mine."

"Oh? Who would that be?"

"Yukon Cornelius."

"Oh right, the crazy prospector who's obsessed with riches." She glanced around the apartment pointedly. "Figures."

He laughed. "Actually, it's because he's brave and manly and… yeah, a little crazy, but he saves Rudolph's life, and that's pretty cool."

"And almost dies in the process."

"Yeah, but he doesn't. He turns up with a tamed Bumble and they all have a holly jolly Christmas. Remember?"

She nodded. "Sure. How about you, Alexis? Have you thought about this too?"

"I'm Clarisse," she said easily. "Because she accepts Rudolph when no one else will, and she's brave enough to go out and try to find him. And because there aren't very many girls in the movie to choose from."

Beckett laughed. "True. I'd probably have to go with Clarisse too, just for lack of options."

"She thinks I'm cuuuuuuute!" the Rudolph on the screen exclaimed as he soared into the air.

"In that case," Castle said, nodding to the screen although both of his hands were busy with the lights, "I'll have to switch to Rudolph."

Kate just rolled her eyes and continued to sort ornaments. Alexis frowned to herself. There was only one Clarisse in the movie. Having two would be redundant. And her dad had always identified with Yukon Cornelius before. He couldn't suddenly want to be Rudolph, not after eighteen years of being Yukon Cornelius. Even within her own head she realized that this was a silly argument. It was just a movie.

"I'd like to think of myself more as Mrs. Claus from _The Year without a Santa Claus_, though," Kate added. "If I had to choose."

"Oh yeah!" Castle beamed, excited that his girlfriend was now fully involved in his game. "She saves Christmas and keeps the two elves out of trouble."

"Which one of those elves are you?" she teased.

"Neither. I'm the Snow Miser. Jingle and Jangle must be Ryan and Esposito."

She nodded with a bemused smirk. "Yeah, I see that."

Alexis continued sorting, done playing. Anyway, it was obvious that she didn't have a role to play in the movie they were casting now. She watched Kate admire one of her favorite ornaments, a simple bulb from 1998 with a Precious Moments father and daughter standing in front of a fireplace. The detective smiled and placed it in the classic bulbs pile.

"What are you doing?" Alexis asked, her voice coming out a little sharper than she'd intended.

"It's a classic ornament, right? It's round."

"It has a year on it. It's a milestone."

"Oh." She frowned and considered the ornament again. "I didn't see that. So every one with a year on it is considered a milestone?"

"Yeah," Alexis said, failing to see why this was a complicated concept.

"Okay. I'll remember that."

Castle got to the point on the tree where he could no longer reach to string the lights, and set up the ladder that had been leaning against the wall. "That can't possibly be a good idea," Kate muttered to Alexis.

She shrugged. "He does it every year and he hasn't died yet. He did fall off once, but he was still on the bottom step so he didn't break anything. Except the string of lights that he pulled down with him."

Kate abandoned the ornaments to hold the ladder steady as Rick climbed it, and Alexis surveyed and rearranged the piles, correcting a few of Kate's errors. She didn't say anything, just casually moved a couple of ornaments back into their appointed piles. But Kate saw.

"You wanna take this, Alexis?" she asked, nodding to the ladder. "I should go."

"What?" Rick wobbled and dropped the light string, but it was sufficiently tangled in the branches so it didn't fall. "I thought you were staying for dinner?"

"I just remembered some things I have to do. See you at work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course." He came down the ladder. "You sure you can't stay?"

"I'm sure. Anyway, you guys have this covered. See ya, Alexis."

"Bye."

Castle walked her to the door. Alexis could hear them talking for a few minutes, but couldn't distinguish anything specific. She was just glad that now, finally, she and her dad could return to their usual traditions.

* * *

**A/N: **I meant to have this chapter done earlier, but it didn't seem to want to be written. I'm currently in exactly the same predicament that Alexis is in the first chapter, and that I was when I started this story last year, with finals and end-of-semester work piling up everywhere and trying to drive me nuts. But procrastination is a powerful motivator (sometimes I think it's the MOST powerful...), so I did finally manage to finish this. Even if I wrote part of it in class. Shhh. Don't tell my professor.

Thoughts? Share them with the review box, please. It gets lonely.


	7. Chapter 7

Castle sighed as he walked back into the room. "Well _that_ didn't end exactly the way I expected." He sank into a chair, disappointment etched all over his face.

Alexis felt a little guilty. She hadn't exactly meant to drive Kate away, but she hadn't exactly been upset that she was leaving either. "Sorry," she murmured, her voice so low that it was barely audible.

"Oh, it's not your fault, sweetie."

This only made her feel worse, because she knew that it probably was. "Let's finish decorating," she suggested, just wanting it all to go away. All the drama, all the jealousy, everything that wasn't a normal part of the holiday season. She just wanted to have Christmas, just like every other year. So she'd been away for awhile. It didn't mean that everything had to change.

"You know, I'm not in a very holly jolly mood right now. You can keep going if you want, but I'm gonna take a break." He got up with some effort. "I'll be in my office."

Alexis nodded, and watched as her father disappeared down the hallway, taking all of her Christmas spirit with him. She guessed she'd have to finish sorting the ornaments by herself.

"We're on the island of misfit toys, here we don't want to stay," the TV sang. She knew just how they felt. And she shouldn't have had to feel like a misfit in her own house.

* * *

Rick's lack of Christmas spirit didn't last long. This time of year, it never did. Within an hour he came back out to finish hanging the lights on the tree, this time with Alexis holding the ladder steady like she had every other year.

"So, you want to tell me what was going on earlier?" he asked from his perch.

Alexis frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, you tell me. I know Beckett didn't leave because she had things to do. I must've missed something."

She concentrated fully on the ladder. She certainly wasn't going to attempt to explain why she'd been so upset that Kate had miss-sorted a few ornaments. "Nothing," she said, her voice close to a whisper.

"Something," he argued. "She's going to be around this year. That's okay with you, isn't it?"

Alexis bit the inside of her cheek and stared at the ladder. She wanted for it to be okay with her, but she couldn't bring herself to say that it was.

Rick frowned down at his daughter. He quickly wrapped the foot or so of lights that remained and came down. He tried to meet her eyes, but she wouldn't quite look. "Hey," he prompted. "Alexis, look at me."

She did.

"I don't get it. It's not like this is new. I've had relationships before."

She shrugged. "I know."

So what's the problem? I thought you liked Kate."

"I do." She diverted her glance to a branch of the tree and memorized the configuration of its needles. "I really do."

"Then what?"

"Nothing."

"Something!"

"It's stupid."

"Come on." He coaxed her to look at him again, gently pushing her chin in his direction with one finger, and smiled. "Think of who you're talking to."

"I just—" she sighed. "I go away to college, but then I get back and it's like…"

"Like?"

She shrugged, and felt her face heat up. "Like I don't belong here anymore."

He frowned. "Alexis, come on."

She nodded. "I know! I know it sounds ridiculous, but that's how it feels."

"Okay, come here." He pulled her in and hugged her. But it didn't have the effect he intended. Something about the closeness, the feeling of his body heat and the way he smelled toggled something in the back of her throat. She swallowed, but to no avail. The tears were coming, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.

He must've felt the moisture on his shirt, because he pulled away and looked at her, meeting her tear-filled eyes. "Hey," he said gently, "you're my daughter. No matter what happens, you're always gonna belong here. Okay? Even if you graduate college, move to a foreign country, get married, have twelve kids and don't talk to me for twenty years. You can _always_ come home."

Alexis saw the glint of a tear starting to form in his eye, and looked down guiltily. "What if while I'm gone, you get married and have twelve kids?"

"Doesn't matter. You'll always be my first daughter, and you'll always be special."

"What if—" she started, but this time he didn't let her finish.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you're gonna say. You will always belong. You will always be my daughter. And you can always come home."

She leaned into her father's chest and took a long, deep breath, trying to collect herself. He let his hand rest on her back. She felt like she was five again. She knew she was being immature. She knew that everything wasn't going to stay the same all the time, and that it probably shouldn't. But she couldn't help but think that if one thing in the world should remain constant, it was Christmas. Holidays were about tradition, and they were about family.

"I do want you to be happy," she finally said, pulling away.

He nodded. "I know."

"And I can tell that she makes you happy."

"She does."

"But do you think we could keep some things just between us?"

"Yeah. I'm sure we will. I didn't intend for everything to change."

"But… it doesn't really matter if you intend it, does it? Things are going to change."

He smiled a little sadly. "Yeah, they are. It's a part of life. But sometimes change can be good."

She nodded. "I really do like Kate."

His smile widened. "I'm glad you do. Think you can help me make her feel welcome?"

"I'll try."

He seemed to accept this. "Good." He took a few steps away from the tree to admire the lights. "How's it look? Even?"

She stepped away as well to get a better view. "Looks good to me. Time for the ornaments?"

"I think so. Are they ready?"

She nodded.

"Should we put up our every year decorations first?" Traditionally, Rick and Alexis had gone through the decorations they'd chosen each year in order, one by one, and found places around the loft for them before putting the ornaments on the tree. There wasn't really a reason that these decorations had to come first; it was just the way they'd always done it.

But although she was a fan of tradition, Alexis shook her head. "No. We'll do the tree first. Kate found the decoration this year, she should be here when we put it up. And she'd probably like to see the other ones too, don't you think?"

Rick beamed and squeezed his daughter's shoulder impulsively. "I think she'd love that, sweetie. Thank you."

"Do you think she'll want to come back here?"

He frowned. "Why wouldn't she? Did something happen between you two that I missed?"

"Not exactly… it was more of a vibe."

"Well, I don't think Kate is the kind of person to be deterred by a vibe. But I would appreciate it if you tried to keep any future vibes positive."

She nodded. "I will."

"Good. Because you two are the most important people in my life, and I need you both to be happy."

She felt a little pang as he said this. Didn't she used to be _the_ most important person in his life? But she tried to ignore it. "I'll work on that too," she said.

* * *

**A/N: **Did that help? I know a lot of you were frustrated with Alexis. As was I, to be honest. I hate writing her the way she was in the last chapter, but from what I know about her, even before this season happened, I don't think it would make sense that she'd be completely open to the idea of Beckett and her dad together right away. And regardless of my own views (if you've read some of my other stories, you'll probably get that I love the idea of Kate and Alexis having a close relationship...), I want to be true to the characters first and foremost and always. That's always been my biggest goal with writing fanfiction. So I don't know if I needed to explain all that, I probably didn't, but I... wanted to. And this is my author's note and I'll do what I want. So there.

Anyway, it seems like Alexis is making some progress, which is good. So we'll see what happens from here.

In other news... there are a lot of things that I can do with words, but adequately expressing my love of reviews is not one of them. So leave me some please! And as always, thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Castle hummed "Deck the Halls" softly as he squeezed white icing onto a gingerbread cookie.

"You're awfully jolly today," Kate noticed, raising an eyebrow.

"Why shouldn't I be? My daughter's home from college, my girlfriend has the day off, the loft is decorated, and my annual Week before Christmas party is tonight. What could be better?"

"Why not just call it a Christmas party like everyone else?"

He sighed dramatically, but smiled, as he always seemed to do when he was talking to Kate. "Because I always have it the week _before_ Christmas," he explained, his tone a little patronizing. "That way I catch everyone before the last-minute holiday rush, but it's close enough that it's still the Christmas season. Get it?"

"No."

"Good." He smiled. "I like to remain mysterious."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you're _so_ mysterious." Her smile dripped sarcasm.

"I promise you that you'll completely understand the allure of the Week before Christmas party after you've been to one. Until this year you've always managed to come up with excuses to avoid my parties. Well, no more. You're the girlfriend now, and your presence is mandatory."

She nodded. "I know. I'm helping with the cookies, aren't I?" She reached for the sprinkles and added them to a sugar cookie in the shape of a Christmas tree.

"It'll be nice to have someone else sane there," Alexis said, smiling.

"Some of your friends are coming, aren't they?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, but with the kind of crowd you usually attract, we need as many sane guests as we can get."

"Well, I can't be totally sane," Kate interjected with a shrug. "I am dating him."

Rick flicked a Red Hot he'd been about to apply to his gingerbread man in Kate's direction. It bounced off her arm and landed in a bowl of green frosting. "Nice going," she laughed, picking it out and popping it into her mouth.

Alexis heard the door open and looked at her father, nonverbally asking if he was expecting anyone. He smiled and nodded toward it, and she immediately understood. Abandoning the cookie she was decorating, she went for the door. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw her grandmother, framed by the doorway with a rather large suitcase at her side, and Alexis squealed and hugged her tightly. "Gram! I missed you! I didn't know you were coming home today!"

"I missed you too, darling!" She looked at Alexis and smiled. "Well, your father knew, so my guess is that either he was trying to surprise you, or he forgot."

She took Martha's arm and led her toward the kitchen. "They're in here," she said.

"They?" Martha followed, leaving her suitcase by the door.

"Mm-hmm."

"Oh, Kate!" she said, smiling as she reached the kitchen. "You're the 'they.' I should've guessed. Nice to see you!"

Kate started to get up, but looked at Alexis, who was standing just slightly between them, and changed her mind. "Welcome home, Martha," she said instead, smiling with a little awkwardness. "How was your play?"

"Long. Two very long weeks. And the lead actress was absolutely dreadful. I, of course, was brilliant."

Castle pulled his mother into a sideways half-hug. "Well, glad to have you home," he said. "And just in time for my annual Week before Christmas bash."

"Oh, perfect. I'll make the punch."

"Or not," Castle smirked. "This year is going to be special. It's Kate's first Week before Christmas party. Some of us might actually want to remember it."

"Richard, my punch is tradition! It wouldn't be a party without it! You're just lucky I got home in time."

"Lucky," he murmured. "Right." He raised his eyebrows at Kate.

"I saw that," Martha shot at her son. "Alexis, darling, help me unpack my things, won't you? These two can finish with the cookies."

She looked at her dad, asking for confirmation, and he nodded, so she followed her grandmother out of the kitchen and to her room, which was uncharacteristically tidy since Martha hadn't been living in it for two weeks.

Alexis set the suitcase, which she'd picked up on the way here, on her grandmother's bed, and Martha closed the door behind them. "So," she said, a wide grin on her face. "What's new?"

It was pathetically transparent what her grandmother was referring to, so Alexis just nodded. "Yeah," she confirmed. "They're together."

"Oh, thank God, they've finally made it official," Martha sighed, still smiling. "The two of them have been dancing around each other even more than usual since you left. I was beginning to think they'd never shut up and admit they're in love."

Alexis wrinkled her nose. "No one said _love_. They're just dating."

Martha laughed. "Come now, darling. Your father and Detective Beckett will never be _just _dating. You know that. You know your father. You know how long he's been crazy about her."

"What difference does it make how long it's been?"

"Of course it makes a difference. This isn't just another relationship for him. They may have just started dating officially, but it isn't as if they're just getting to know each other. They already do. They're each familiar with all of the other's little quirks and annoying habits, triumphs and difficulties, and they've both made the conscious decision to embrace all of it and embark on a different kind of relationship. It's a very rare thing, to find someone willing to do that."

"So… what's your point?"

Martha frowned. "I don't understand. I thought you liked Detective Beckett."

"Who says I don't?"

"You just don't exactly seem thrilled about her being here."

"I just… wasn't expecting it. Even after I found out that they were together, I didn't expect for her to be here all the time. It's weird. It's… everything's different now."

"Well, darling, did you expect nothing to change? You're in college. You're growing up. And so is your father."

"Shouldn't he already be grown up?"

"Probably." Martha smirked. "But we both know that isn't the case."

Alexis rolled her eyes.

Softening, Martha sat down on the bed and patted the space next to her. Alexis took the invitation and Martha rested a hand on her shoulder. "Darling, you know that your leaving wasn't easy on your father, don't you? He always knew that you were going to go away to college eventually, and it was always something he wanted for you, but when it came time for you to actually go… As a parent, it's hard to admit when your child grows up."

"So he had to replace me?"

"No, it isn't about replacing you, it's about… finding another purpose in life." She shrugged. "You know, your father has never really lived alone. Not for long. And with you gone…"

"But you're still here. He's not _really_ alone."

"I might live here, but I'm not here all the time. I'm either doing a show, or teaching class, or with…" she cleared her throat, "friends. I'm busy."

"But so is he. He's always at the precinct, or writing…"

"At the precinct, with Beckett. Or writing about…"

"Nikki Heat," Alexis interrupted her grandmother. "Not Beckett."

Martha smiled. "Those lines have been rather blurry from the start."

"Okay, again, what's your point?"

"My point is that your father obviously has feelings for the woman, and has for a very long time, and it's good that they've finally decided to act on that. Good for both of them."

Alexis nodded. "It is. I know it is. I know they're happy."

Martha smiled sadly. "But you aren't."

"I was at first. And I want to be. I just didn't think I'd have to do all my growing up in one semester."

"Of course you don't."

"And I feel like if there's one time of year when I should get to act like a kid again, it's Christmas time."

Martha considered that for a moment. "You might be right about that too. At the very least, I'm sure your father would agree. But think of it from Beckett's point of view. When do you think is the last time she got to feel that way?"

Alexis bit her lip. "She did say that it's been awhile since she really celebrated Christmas." In her childishness, she'd forgotten that.

"And if anyone can help her to do that…"

"It's Dad," Alexis finished.

Martha smiled. "Well, he is rather skilled at celebrating. But it's not just him. Where do you think he got it? And you, my dear, are not immune. This whole family does holidays right. Wouldn't you say so?"

Alexis smiled. "Yeah, I guess I would."

So I think the right thing would be for us to welcome Kate into our family. At least for the holidays."

She nodded. "I guess that makes sense."

"Do you think you can do that?"

"I can try."

"You know what might help?"

"What?"

"Think of one thing, one tradition, to do with only your father. And then think of something to do with only Kate. That way you get your time with your dad, and you still help Kate to feel welcome."

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. I can do that."

* * *

**A/N: **Anyone wondering where Martha's been? Well, I was. So there she is. Although I kind of liked it when she was in hiding, because she's really hard to write. At least for me. That chapter was quite annoying. And to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the way it turned out. But then, I wasn't a huge fan of the last chapter either, and most of you, or at least most of my awesome reviewers (Have I mentioned that I love you lately? Because I do.) seemed to like it, so maybe I should just take myself out of the judging process. That's your job, oh awesome reviewers. I won't take it from you. Go on. :)

Thanks for reading!

I have finals for the next two days, so I should probably neglect writing and do things such as study and pack, so it might be just a little bit longer before the next update... but "should" and "will" tend to be two entirely different things for me, and writing is one of my favorite procrastination activities, so maybe it won't be very long at all. These things are hard to predict. We'll see. Regardless, I'm done with finals Wednesday, so it shouldn't be too long. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Well, so much for making you wait. :) I really feel like whatever I say about how long it'll be until I can get the next chapter up, the opposite seems to happen. So I should just end every chapter saying that it'll probably take me a really long time to get the next one up, and then I'll be updating all the time. Um... that made sense in my head. Going to stop typing and let you read this fluffy little thing now. It's actually a little longer than usual for this story, because for some reason it wrote really quickly. So you reap the benefits of that. :) Enjoy.

* * *

Castle stood on a chair in the middle of his crowded living room and cleared his throat. "Attention, attention everyone," he said. Apparently it worked, because the loft got significantly quieter. "Welcome, once again, to my annual Week before Christmas party. As those of you who have been here before will know, it's tradition to start off with a little poem from me to you."

Alexis groaned inwardly and shared an eye-roll with Paige, who had been here last year. She always hoped he'd forget this part. But he never did.

"'Twas the week before Christmas," he began, a wide grin on his face, "and all through the loft, Martha was stirring punch that was not soft. Javi and Lanie made out on the couch, and – Lanie, don't give me that look! Ouch!"

The room laughed, and Alexis located Dr. Parish, who was indeed staring well-deserved daggers at her father. That had been a good prediction, if nothing else.

He continued. "Kevin and Jenny were spreading the cheer, still newlyweds after almost a year."

Those in the room that knew the couple "aww-ed." It was true enough.

"My daughter Alexis, finally home from school, blushed and ignored me. Guess this isn't cool."

Again, well-predicted. She might almost be okay with these random poems if he didn't feel the need to mention her year after year.

"Patterson and Connelly signed autographs with glee, but Kate didn't care, her favorite writer is me."

The two authors, who were indeed there but were taking a break from signing autographs, laughed, while Kate, who was standing near Rick's chair, looked as if she wanted to topple it. Fortunately, the pre-prepared poem switched gears.

"With just over a week until it's Christmas day, tonight is the night that we all should play. Forget about shopping and baking and trees, and drink lots of punch so outside you don't freeze. For now, 'tis the season for laughter and light, so Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great night!"

He stepped off his chair, and Alexis let out a sigh, glad it was over. This year's was a little shorter than usual, she thought. But she wasn't about to tell her father that, because he'd probably add a verse.

* * *

Paige smiled at her phone and tucked it back into her pocket. "I gotta go, Alexis."

She frowned at her friend. "What? Why?" She looked around the still-crowded apartment. "There's still a lot of party left here. I thought you were gonna stay the whole time?"

She shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, your dad's parties are fun and everything, but Corey just got off work and I promised I'd meet him."

Corey was Paige's boyfriend. Alexis never been able to compete with him for her friend's attention, and now that he and Paige were going to different colleges she was even more intent on spending every moment she could with him. "Tell him to come here," she suggested. "My dad won't care, if he even notices." She looked across the room at her father, who was ladling punch for a few of his writer buddies. No, he wouldn't notice at all.

"We're going to Bryan's," she said. "He's having a party too, remember?"

She rolled her eyes. "Right." How could she forget? Bryan's party was the reason Paige was the only one of her friends who had agreed to come here tonight.

"You should come too," she suggested. "Like you said, your dad wouldn't notice."

She shook her head. "No, he'd notice if I left." It was true, and besides that, Alexis had never much liked Bryan, and she hated being a third wheel to Paige and Corey.

"Okay," she said, shrugging like it made no difference to her at all. "See you later."

"Bye." She watched her friend go and sighed, preparing to be swallowed by the sea of adults around her.

She looked around for her grandmother and spotted her chatting with two older gentlemen who appeared to be vying for her attention. She was sure Martha would be more than happy to introduce her to them, but she could think of several body parts that could be removed less painfully than that conversation, so she went the other way.

After she'd heard drunken renditions of at least three different Christmas carols, Alexis started to get bored with people-watching and decided to leave the party in favor of her bedroom. It wouldn't be quiet, but it would be quieter than this, and she was bored with this.

She wound through the crowd, past Detective Ryan chatting with his wife and a few other cops, past Dr. Parish and Detective Esposito, who after several glasses of punch had apparently decided they liked her father's suggestion and really were making out on the couch, and past her father, who was talking to a group of people she didn't recognize. She briefly considered that she hadn't seen Kate lately, but didn't think much of it.

That is, she didn't until she walked past her father's study and happened to glance inside, noticing that the door was open. She recognized Kate's silhouette, her red dress and loose curls, sitting in a chair by herself, oblivious to Alexis's presence.

Her first instinct was to pretend she hadn't noticed and continue to her room. Kate probably wanted to be left alone, or she'd be outside with the rest of the party guests. Right? But pieces weren't quite fitting together. If that was what she wanted, why hadn't she closed the door? And why _wasn't_ she outside with the rest of the guests? Why wasn't she with Rick?

She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she changed course, and instead of going upstairs to her bedroom she went into the study, closing the door behind her.

Kate heard the door and immediately looked up, surprised. "Oh, hey, Alexis," she said. "What are you doing in here?"

She shrugged a little awkwardly and sat down in her dad's desk chair. "I was gonna ask you that."

"Just… needed a break."

Alexis smirked. "I can relate."

"Aren't your friends out there?"

She shook her head. "One was, but she left."

Beckett nodded.

Alexis smiled. "But I know your friends are out there."

She shrugged. "There are a lot of people out there."

"So… why not you?"

"I, um…" She took a deep breath and sighed out her words. "There's a _lot_ of Christmas going on."

"It is a Christmas party… what did you expect?"

"Nothing different, I guess." The detective seemed fascinated with the carpet.

Alexis could've sworn that Kate's eyes looked a little pink, although her still-perfect makeup betrayed no trace of tears. "You okay?" she asked. She meant the question, although she was aware that it sounded a little stiff.

"Yeah," she nodded, but without breaking her eye contact with the rug. "I'm fine."

Alexis bit the inside of her cheek, not believing. "Are you sure? I can go get my dad…"

"No," Kate said quickly. "He's doing the host thing. No need to interrupt that on my account."

"He wouldn't mind."

"I know he wouldn't. I would."

"Look," Alexis said, suddenly finding herself quite interested in the rug as well, "I know I haven't exactly been supportive about you and my dad lately…"

"It's okay," Kate said, looking up. "I get it. I don't want to get in the way of your time with your family. I know that's important to you. And it should be."

"Yeah but…" she shrugged. "Christmas time is about sharing, right? You can be part of our family for a little while."

Beckett studied her for a long moment, looking for signs that she was somehow bluffing. "Really?"

She nodded. "Really." She remembered her grandmother's earlier advice. Now seemed like as good a time as any to bring it up, to prove that she meant what she'd said. "Do you have to work tomorrow?" she asked.

"Just in the morning. Why?"

She shrugged. "Well, judging from how much of my grandma's punch he's already had, I don't think my dad's going to be up for doing much tomorrow… Do you want to… do something, maybe? With me? When you're done with work?"

Kate smiled. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I'll think of something."

"What if I already had something in mind?"

Alexis couldn't hide her surprise. "Really?"

"Hypothetically."

"Then… I'd be really curious to see what it was."

"So if I came over after work tomorrow…"

Alexis smiled. "Sounds perfect."

"Good. It's a plan."

"Then I'll see you then." She got up. "I'm gonna go read or something. Bored with the party. Are you going back out?"

Kate stood up as well. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am. Thanks, Alexis."

"For what?"

"For… letting me into your family."

She nodded, not exactly sure how to respond. But they walked out of the study together and exchanged a smile before Kate turned back toward the party and Alexis turned the other way to go upstairs. She might not have understood why the detective had left the party in the first place, but somehow she got the feeling that, whatever she'd been upset about, their conversation had helped. She felt good about that. And she looked forward to spending time with Kate tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N****:** I edited this chapter really quickly, because I'm finally done with all my finals and want to get the heck out of here and go home (which is rather appropriate considering what this story is about, actually...), and I'm typing up these authors notes at hyper speed, so any issues/errors/typos/etc. with this chapter and/or the authors notes are probably a product of that. Apologies in advance, but I wanted to get this chapter up before I left. Because... I did. And because otherwise I wouldn't be able to post it for at least two hours, because that's how long it takes me to get home. So ANYWAY. I guess I don't have much else to say about this. Besides that it was a fun chapter. :) I actually wrote Castle's poem from the beginning a few nights ago, because the idea occurred to me and it sounded fun... anyway, yeah. Going to stop typing random stuff now and leave. But leave me some reviews to read when I get home? That would be much appreciated. :) Thanks for reading, as always! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Sorry this took me so long! I always think I'm going to have more time to write when the semester ends, but it never seems to work that way. Ohh well. Short and uneventful though this chapter might be, at least it's an update. Just a very fluffy update. Enjoy!

* * *

Alexis heard the door the first time the bell sounded but let it go, figuring that her dad would get it. As predicted, he'd passed on accompanying Beckett to the precinct for a half-day filled with paperwork, and had barely emerged from his study all morning. But if Alexis was sure of anything, it was that he'd still want to see Kate at some point today, especially if she was coming over, so she assumed he'd answer the door. But after the third bell she gave up on that assumption and answered herself.

"Hey," she greeted the detective, who looked a little tired, but was smiling. "Sorry. I thought my dad was gonna get the door."

She nodded. "How's he feeling today?" she asked, a teasing edge in her voice.

"Rather dramatic, I assume," Alexis said, rolling her eyes. "I'm positive he's been more hung-over than this and probably recently. But he's been hiding in his study all day. Want me to get him, or can you...?" She didn't have a very good idea of how comfortable Kate was here. Apparently fairly, since she'd been in the office by herself just the night before, but she still figured she'd ask.

"Come with me," Kate suggested, nodding toward the doorway. "We'll just pop in and say bye before we go. Double team him."

Alexis smiled. "Sounds good." She led the way to the room. She had to cover her mouth to suppress a giggle when she opened the door to find her father asleep in the chair in front of his laptop, with his head lulling back and his jaw hanging open in a rather unattractive but hilarious fashion.

She looked at Kate, who grinned and pressed a finger to her lips to warn Alexis to keep quiet. Without making a sound, a skill she might've developed as a cop, she managed to go to Castle's desk, take a pen from the cup on its surface, and draw a ridiculous googly-eyed face on his forehead. She was just finishing up the mouth when he woke with a start that forced her pen to make an awkward line jutting out to one side.

"Hey," he grumbled, looking confusedly from his girlfriend to his daughter. "What're you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," Kate said, looking at the ceiling with mock-innocence and hiding the pen behind her back. Alexis giggled.

"I fell asleep?" He moved the cursor on his laptop to see the time. "For almost two hours?"

"Apparently," Alexis laughed.

"Getting a little old to be partying like that," Kate teased.

"Not old," Castle answered quickly, apparently waking up. "Never old."

"You do have a daughter in college now," Alexis contributed. "That's pretty old."

"Whose side are you on?" he asked her unhappily. "Aren't you two supposed to be going somewhere?"

"Yeah, we are," Kate told him. "Just wanted to say hello."

"Hello." He beckoned her closer with one finger, and she obliged. They shared a quick kiss, and then he waved her away, a silly smile on his face that almost matched the one on his forehead. "Have fun," he said.

Alexis started to go, but he stopped her. "Hey," he called, "come here. You're not exempt."

He didn't seem very interested in getting up, so Alexis made her way over to his desk as Kate started for the door and allowed him to kiss her on the cheek. "Okay, you can go now," he said, dismissing them both. "Be safe."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You watch me chase down bad guys every day and you never tell me to 'be safe'."

He frowned. "It's implied," he told her. "And you don't have my daughter with you when you're chasing bad guys."

"Well, no bad guys today," she promised. "Just some girly fun."

"Even better." He smiled. "Get to it."

Alexis followed Kate out of the study. "So you said you had something in mind?" she asked her.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. Sort of, anyway. Have you been outside yet today?"

Alexis frowned and shook her head. Grinning, Kate led her to the nearest window and drew the blinds open. Alexis felt a matching grin spread across her own face as she saw the reason for Kate's question. A sparkly white blanket that hadn't been there the night before now covered the city. "God, I love snow," she breathed.

"Good," Kate smiled. "That's what your dad told me. I do too."

Alexis looked at the detective, surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "Always have. What?"

"No, nothing. I just figured you'd be like my dad and my grandma. Admire it from afar, too cold up close."

"No way. The closer the better. So I figured we'd go down to the park and check out the snow and the decorations, and then maybe go ice skating if you're up for it."

Alexis beamed. "That sounds amazing. Really?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

"Okay. Just let me put on some warmer clothes and we'll go."

"Perfect." She sat down on the couch and made herself comfortable. "I'll be here."

* * *

"So how was work this morning?" Alexis asked, making conversation as they got out of Kate's car and started down the sidewalk toward the park.

She shrugged. "Boring. Esposito and Ryan called off, and your dad didn't show, not that I expected him to, and paperwork isn't too exciting to begin with. And then of course the captain wanted to know why the rest of my team decided not to come to work, and I didn't think she'd take your dad's party as an excuse, so I had to cover for them."

Alexis laughed. "They _both_ called off?"

Kate nodded. "Wimps. I'll bust 'em for it tomorrow." She smirked. "Might as well get something out of it."

She grinned. "Good plan."

Fluffy snowflakes were still coming down as they walked, giving Alexis a giddy feeling that only this kind of snow was able to provide. It made her feel like a little kid again, but in the best possible way. Like everything bad in the world had vanished in a sparkly puff of white. The fat flakes settled on her jacket and melted against her exposed skin. They stuck to tree branches and signposts, and made everything look softer. Even the detective beside her seemed to have regressed a few years. Alexis watched her catch a snowflake on her tongue and then look around briefly, hoping no one had noticed, and suddenly she couldn't figure out why this woman had ever seemed threatening.

"It really is pretty down here," she observed. "I get around a lot for work, but I'm always so concentrated I never really get to just admire the scenery. I've been looking at these decorations for years, I'm sure, but it's been a long time since I've really noticed them."

"It _is_ pretty," Alexis smiled. "And even prettier with the snow."

"Mm, definitely. Christmas decorations just don't look right sitting in the grass."

"Right?" She looked at the detective. "So what was it you said about ice skating?"

"Oh." Kate smiled a little shyly. "Just an idea. We can go if you want."

"I'm not very good," Alexis warned. "But it sounds like fun."

"Yeah? You know, I haven't been skating in years, so I might not be very good anymore either. But I used to love it. Think we should give it a try?"

"Sure. Let's do it."

"Okay, great." Kate grinned, obviously more excited by the prospect than she'd been letting on. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: **So, just some character development and a bit of preview for coming attractions. Annnd that's pretty much all this chapter was. But oh well. It happens. Hopefully you liked it anyway.

Quick question. I'll take your opinions if you have them. :) I could either actually write the Kate/Alexis skating scene, which would probably be another chapter of uneventful fluff, or I could sort of skip over that part to some things that might actually advance the plot. The skating scene would probably have to be its own chapter, so it would mean that the Kate/Alexis bonding outing will be extended over three chapters, which will mean it'll take me longer to get to Christmas. So, fun fluffy but probably uneventful skating chapter, or skip that in favor of some actual plot development and the possibility of actually finishing this story before the end of the month?

Thanks for reading, even if nothing actually happens. :) And reviews are always welcome! You're awesome. Have a great Christmas if I don't update before then! But hopefully I will.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **I wanted to get this chapter up before I left for my aunt's house. There's been a lot of rushing going on with this story lately... 'tis the season, I guess. So anyway, not that this is a particularly good excuse, but I'm skipping my customary final edit so I can get this posted before a lot later tonight, so if there are any random errors/typos... it's probably a product of that.

Hope everyone had/is having an excellent Christmas! :)

* * *

"Obviously this was a _brilliant _idea," Alexis sighed under her breath as she skated into the wall of the rink to prevent herself from skating into the couple in front of her. She usually went skating with her friends about once a year, and she'd never exactly been good at it, but neither had her friends. Next to Kate, she was awful.

She'd said she hadn't been skating in a long time, but she didn't seem at all out of practice. She glided over the ice effortlessly, not slowed down by the bumps in the ice caused by the hundreds of other skaters before her. Meanwhile, Alexis stayed close to the wall, both because she'd have something to grab if she was about to fall and because skating into the wall was the only way she knew how to stop that was a hundred percent effective.

After lapping her for the third or fourth time, Beckett slowed down to skate beside Alexis, smiling, her cheeks a little pink from the cold and the exercise. "Hey," she said. "Guess it came back quicker than I thought."

"Yeah." Alexis forced a smile. "You look good out there."

"Thanks." Kate watched as Alexis broke away from the wall to pass an older lady who was worse than she was, but return to her security blanket as soon as she was able. "Correct me if I'm wrong," the detective observed, "but you don't look like you're having a great time."

"Oh." She forced another smile, this time trying to make it look more convincing. "No. This is fun."

But her efforts weren't enough. Kate wasn't buying it. She raised her eyebrows. "Really? Then do your rental skates have magnets in them that attract them to the wall? Because we can get you another pair."

Even in the cold air, she felt herself blush. "No, I just… I like it better over here."

"Okay, come on." She extended a gloved hand.

Alexis looked at it, confused. "What?"

"Come on. Take it. We'll skate for real."

She continued to stare at the detective's hand, weighing her options.

"It's not a trick, I promise," Kate laughed. "I won't let you fall."

_Great. _Now if she didn't go with Kate she was going to think it was because she didn't trust her. That wasn't it, it was just… she didn't know her that well. But she gave in and took the detective's hand, albeit a little nervously.

Kate held onto her hand firmly, but not too hard, and Alexis tried to do the same, not really wanting either of them to accidentally let go at the wrong moment. She wasn't sure if she was more afraid of actual pain or simply embarrassment, but she knew that she didn't want to fall.

It didn't take long until she was skating faster and closer to the center of the rink than she was comfortable. But when she got past her nervousness and looked around, saw the seven-year-olds that had been passing her being left behind, noticed the snow and the decorations, and the fact that the ice here, where fewer people were skating, was much smoother than the ice at the outer edges, she was able to relax a little and try to actually keep up with Kate so she wasn't pulling her along quite so much. She looked over at the detective, who was beaming.

She kept her hold on Kate's hand, and felt surprisingly safe. It wasn't really awkward, like she'd expected it to be. She didn't really feel like she was with her father's girlfriend. She felt more like she was with a friend, but a friend who would look out for her, and a friend that she could look up to. She'd never had a relationship similar to this one before, and she couldn't quite define it. But she thought she might like it.

She was skating past all kinds of people now, and she could feel the muscles in her legs burning from the exertion. Although holding Kate's hand tighter than ever, she was skating completely under her own power now, keeping up well. She liked the feeling of the cold air blowing through her hair, liked passing so many other skaters in her circle, even liked the feeling of the strain on her muscles, telling her that she was pushing herself harder than she usually did.

But after doing a few laps this way, her legs started to feel a little wobbly, and her skates stopped going where she aimed them quite as reliably. But she kept going, telling herself she'd finish at least another lap, maybe two, before taking a break. She didn't want to stop. She was having fun.

At least until her skate found a dent in the ice that her eyes hadn't. Reflexively, she tightened her grip on Kate's hand, but it was too late. Her skate had gone sideways, her knees had buckled, and she was already on the way down, pulling Kate with her.

It all happened so fast that it took her a second, lying there on the cold ice, to figure out exactly what it was that had happened. She was flat out on her side. Kate had managed to let go of her hand before falling the whole way, apparently, and was kneeling beside her.

As soon as she got her bearings, the first thing she could think to do was to get up, and _now._ There were people skating all around her, and it was only a matter of time before someone would be skating too fast or not paying attention and run into her, not to mention that lying on the ice wasn't exactly the most flattering position. "You okay?" she was vaguely aware of Kate asking. She nodded and got up as quickly as she could, and skated to the wall, ignoring the sharp pain in her ankle.

Kate met her there, all the carefree joy that had been on her face just minutes ago replaced by a frown. "You okay?" she asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just… I think I need a break from skating. You can keep going though. I'll watch."

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I've had enough anyway. Let's go." She nodded toward the gates. They'd still have to skate around about half of the rink to get there.

Alexis nodded and started to skate back, but as soon as she put enough weight on her right ankle to push off of the ice she felt a stab of pain and winced visibly. The distance to the gates suddenly looked considerably farther.

"Ankle?" Kate asked, having apparently noticed.

"Yeah."

She nodded. "I figured, the way you fell. Here, hold onto the wall," she directed. Alexis did. "Try to put most of your weight on the other leg." She held out her arm so that it was easily reachable. "You can hold onto me too if you need to. But just try to keep moving and we'll get to the gate before you know it."

She made her way around the rink slowly, trying to push off of the wall and occasionally Kate rather than the ice to avoid putting weight on her bad ankle. Every time she looked at Kate, she gave her a sheepish but encouraging smile. Although it seemed to take an eternity, eventually she did make it back to the gate, and hobbled with Kate's assistance onto less slippery ground, and finally to a bench inside the rental building.

"Give me your skates and I'll go get our shoes back," Kate suggested, unlacing her own.

Alexis unlaced both of her skates and took the left one off and set it on the floor, but her feet had fit snugly into her skates, and the amount of pulling she had to do to get her right skate off hurt. A lot. "I can't—"

"Here." Kate sat down next to her and took hold of her skate. She wiggled it gently until it started to come loose, and then eased it off. "Okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Good. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "I don't have shoes. Where am I gonna go?"

"Good point. Okay, be right back."

Alexis watched Kate disappear into the crowd, going in the direction of the rental desk. She felt a little bad for cutting their day short, not that it had been intentional. She had actually been having a good time, and she knew that Kate had as well.

It didn't take her long to get back, carrying Alexis's boots and already wearing her own. "Okay, let me see your ankle," she said. "Put it up on the bench." She complied and rolled up her jeans so that Kate could see. She frowned. "Well, it might be a little bit swollen, but it's not too bad." She pressed gently with her fingers. "That hurt?"

"Yeah, a little."

She nodded and felt around a little more. "Okay, I don't think anything's broken. You might've sprained it, but you probably just twisted it. I know it hurts, but I think it'll be okay in a day or two. I'll see if I can find you some ice, and then we'll go."

"Thanks." She smiled sheepishly, still feeling guilty.

Kate left, and returned a few minutes later with a bag of ice from the refreshment window. "Here," she said, handing it to her. "Keep this on it so it doesn't swell any more. Or, I guess when we get to the car. Can you get your boot on?"

She nodded. She'd been wearing Ugg boots, which weren't exactly restrictive. "I'm sure I can." She pulled it on carefully, but without difficulty. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoyed the (rather rushed, but hopefully still good) chapter. Apparently I landed with making the skating scene its own chapter... it just kind of worked out that way. :)


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm sorry, Alexis," Kate murmured when they were back in her car, but before she started it.

Alexis frowned. "Sorry? For what?"

"Well, I brought you here. The skating thing was my idea, and then when it didn't seem like you were having fun I pushed you… we should've just left. It's my fault you got hurt. God, your dad's gonna kill me."

She actually smiled. "No he's not."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. First of all, even if it was your fault, he wouldn't kill you. He'd see how you made sure I was okay and took care of me, and that's what he'd remember. That's what he _will_ remember. Second of all, it's not your fault. And I'm fine. So I twisted my ankle. I'll live. And it is actually feeling a little better now that I have the ice on it."

"But still—"

"No, but nothing," she interrupted. "I wanted to go ice skating too. I told you it sounded like fun. And it was. I'm sorry it got cut short. We didn't even really get to talk much."

"Yeah." She started the car. "Maybe next time."

"Why not this time?"

Kate looked over. "What?"

"Well, curious as I am to find out whether my dad ever noticed your artwork on his forehead, I don't really feel like dealing with him in hangover mode right now. And I'm sure my grandma's at least as bad as he is. So if I go home, I'll probably just end up barricading myself in my room, and I'm not really in the mood for that right now."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying that you don't want to go home yet?"

"I mean, if you have things to do that's fine, but…"

"You want to go get coffee?" Kate interrupted.

Alexis nodded. "Yeah. That sounds perfect."

* * *

"What do you want?" Kate asked as they entered the Starbucks.

"I can get it," Alexis said, digging in her purse for her wallet.

"No, go sit down, I'll bring the drinks over."

Alexis faltered. Kate was probably right, it would be better for her to keep the weight off of her ankle for as long as she could. "Okay," she conceded, "but at least let me give you the money for it."

"Nope, my treat."

"Are you sure?"

She laughed. "I promise it's no big deal. Just tell me what you want."

"Okay… how about a peppermint mocha?"

"Are those good?" Kate wondered. "I've never had one."

"I love them. You should try it. It's a good Christmas-y drink."

"Maybe I'll get one. I'm in kind of a Christmas-y mood."

"Then I highly recommend it."

"I'll get two. Find us a table?"

Alexis nodded and chose a table by the window.

A few minutes later, Kate showed up with the two drinks. "Okay, let's see how good these things are," she said as she sat down. She sipped hers.

"Impressed?" Alexis asked before sipping her own.

"Mm," she nodded. "Very good."

"Good." She smiled. "So did you have a good time at the party last night?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Alexis smiled. "You don't sound convinced."

"It was a good party," she said, as if Alexis was some kind of a spy for her father. "Your dad really knows how to throw them."

"But you didn't have a good time?" Alexis guessed. "It didn't really look like you were having fun when I saw you."

"Yeah, well you found me at kind of a weird time. It got better after that."

"Oh. Well, good." Alexis frowned at her coffee cup, still wondering what had been wrong, but not wanting to press.

"Christmas is kind of hard for me," she supplied. "I told you it's been awhile since I really celebrated it, right? Your dad is trying to help me get back into it, but… it's easier if I take it slow. That party was kind of… a lot of Christmas to handle at once."

"Because of your mom?" Alexis ventured. As soon as she said it, she wondered if she should have. It wasn't really any of her business.

But Kate actually smiled. "You know," she said slowly, "I'll bet you and I know more about each other than we think."

"Yeah, my dad kind of talks about you a lot."

"Yeah? He talks about you constantly."

"Really? Like, when you guys are at work?"

"At work, outside of work… whenever. He's really missed you, with you being away at school. That's one reason I kind of feel bad being around so much. I know you haven't had as much time together as you're used to having. But for what it's worth, he's really proud of you."

She smiled. "I know he is." She sipped her coffee, thinking for a beat. "You really care about him, don't you?" she finally asked.

"You know, I really do. Your dad's a good guy. But whatever happens between us, it's not going to change the relationship that you have with him. I love that you guys are so close, and I'd never want to get in the way of that."

"You're different from anyone my dad's ever been with."

Kate smirked. "Good different or bad different?"

"Just… different. Good different. Good for him. I'm glad he has you, when I'm not around." She smiled, thinking about it a little more. "And when I am."

"Good." She took a long sip of her coffee and then met Alexis's eyes. "I'm glad to be spending Christmas with your family. The last time I really celebrated it I was about your age."

Alexis frowned. "Really?"  
"Yep. My mom _loved_ Christmas. It was a really big deal to her. My family was pretty small, but she'd have them all over at our house and make this huge dinner. She'd prepare for days ahead of time, decorating, baking, everything. And most of the time it was great. But that last year, we had a huge fight. It was stupid. I was dating this guy at the time who she didn't really like… I wanted to invite him to dinner and she wouldn't let me. But I got really angry and spent the whole evening in my room. Didn't come out until the next morning. Didn't eat dinner. I even threw away my mom's present. I'm sure it would just be something stupid that happened when I was a teenager if it wasn't… if it hadn't been her last Christmas." Kate's voice caught at the end of her sentence. She tried to clear her throat to cover it, but it didn't really help.

Alexis could actually feel a couple of sympathetic tears pulling at her own eyes, and she reached across the table to let her hand rest on Kate's forearm. "I'm so sorry," she managed.

She shook her head quickly. "It's fine, it's not your fault. I just figured… just so you know. That's why all this Christmas stuff is a little hard for me. It all reminds me of my mom, and then… how much I messed up. But it's okay. It's in the past."

But it wasn't okay. She could see plainly in Kate's face that it wasn't okay, that it was far from forgotten. And she knew from what her dad had told her and from her own experience that Kate wasn't one to share personal information like this with just anybody. The fact that she'd told her this was huge. It obviously hadn't been to gain Alexis's sympathy, nor had it been a simple bonding mechanism. It was more than that. It was a sign of trust. Maybe even an offer of friendship.

Another thought occurred to her then. She might have gone easier on Kate for the past few days if she'd known all of this, if she'd really understood how hard this was for her. "Why didn't my dad tell me any of this?"

She shrugged. "Probably because I never told him."

Alexis frowned. "Why not?"

"I don't know, really. I guess… I wanted you guys to let me spend Christmas with you because you wanted to, not just because you felt sorry for me. You can tell him if you want. It's not like I'm hiding anything from him, it just didn't exactly come up. Anyway, he's a good detective, I'm sure he's figured some of it out."

"I had a good time today," Alexis said sincerely, changing the subject just enough to keep things comfortable. "We should hang out again sometime."

Kate smiled. "Yeah. I'd love that."

"So would I." Alexis found that she was sincere. She really liked spending time with Kate.

"Then we'll have to make sure it happens."

"Yeah." She smiled. "We will."

* * *

**A/N:** Fluffy, fluffy fluff. But, as I believe someone pointed out, the whole intention of this story is for it to be fluffy, so I think we're good. And this time at least some of it was plot-furthering fluff. And anyway, fluff is fun. Jump in and roll around in it. Make a fluff angel. It's not cold like snow, it's just... fluff. And I do believe that was probably the most the word "fluff' has ever been used in a single paragraph. Someone call the Guinness Book of World Records. I'm sure they'll want to know.

And now that I'm done rambling about fluff... My original goal was to post a new chapter of this story every day this week, because I really want to get it finished while it's still somewhat near Christmas... but this chapter was supposed to be yesterday's, so obviously I'm slacking. I'm still going to try to update as often as possible though, so be on the lookout. :)

Thanks for reading! Review if you please. Because it pleases me when you do. :)


	13. Chapter 13

"Are you sure your ankle's okay?" Castle frowned at his daughter, clearly concerned.

Alexis rolled her eyes. "It's _fine_, Dad."

"Because Detective Beckett said that we should stop and put ice on it every few hours, and it's been—"

"Less than an hour," she interrupted. "I'm fine, I swear. Look, I'm not even limping anymore."

"I wish you would've gone for x-rays, just to make sure…"

Alexis rolled her eyes. _"Dad. _Kate is a cop. She might not be a doctor, but I'm pretty sure she knows something about injuries. She says it's nothing to worry about, and I believe her. Why don't you?"

He nodded. "I do. You're right. But I'm your dad, it's my job to worry a little."

"Then do it internally, please, because I'm tired of hearing it."

"So," he said, with an air of changing the subject, "you're calling her Kate now?"

Alexis shrugged. "She told me to. Awhile ago."

"I know, but now you're doing it naturally. That's good, it means you're getting more comfortable around her."

"Yeah, well, she's pretty cool." She nodded toward a little boutique. "Gram?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope, we got her presents in there last year. Keep walking."

"Right," Alexis mumbled. "She always remembers." Martha had the annoying habit of being able to pinpoint exactly which store each of her presents came from within seconds, and she'd accuse them of being unoriginal if they went to the same place twice within a few years. She called herself retail-savvy. Her son called her a shopaholic.

"So what are you getting Kate for Christmas?" Alexis asked as they walked.

"You know, I don't know yet. It's our first Christmas together, so I have to get her something good... I just don't know what."

"Well, I don't think she's that materialistic. Just get her something from the heart and I'm sure she'll love it."

"But it isn't that simple. We've only been dating for about a week. I don't want it to seem like I'm expecting too much. But I don't have any idea what she's getting me, and since I'm the guy and I'm... well, me... I have to spend more on her than she does on me."

Alexis laughed. "Don't worry too much about that part."

"Why?" he asked quickly. "Did she tell you something? Do you know what she's getting me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I just think it's a stupid thing to worry about. And I think Kate would too."

"You two spend one day together and now all of a sudden you're all buddy-buddy?"

"I wouldn't put it like that... I just like her. She's different from everyone else you've been with. And I can see how she's good for you. Anyway, you might've just started dating, but you've known each other for years now, so I don't think the same rules apply. You know her pretty well, right? You know what she likes. I'm sure you can find her something."

He smiled. "I'm glad you like her. I think this might be the first time you've liked someone I've been with so early."

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I first introduced you to Gina? I'd been dating her for awhile by then... but you hated her. You wouldn't even look at her for the first week, and wouldn't talk to her for the first month."

"Turns out I was a pretty good judge of character," she mumbled. True, she'd been okay with Gina eventually, mostly out of necessity since she became her stepmother for awhile, but even at ten she'd thought her father could do better. And she'd been right.

Castle sighed. "Yes, well, that aside. I'm glad you and Kate are getting along."

"Just promise me something." Alexis stopped walking and looked at her father seriously. This had been bothering her since her conversation with Kate.

"What?" He stopped as well, but looked around nervously as the crowds of Manhattan Christmas shoppers rushed past. "Can we keep walking?"

She ignored this. "Promise me that you won't do anything stupid to mess this up."

He frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. I just know that, diverse as your girlfriends, and wives, have been, they've all had one thing in common. They've all left."

"And you think that's my fault?" he asked, his eyes suddenly resembling those of an oversized puppy dog.

Alexis felt herself shrink a little. It hadn't been her intention to hurt him. But she felt that her point had to be made. "No, that's not what I'm saying. It's just that if we're going to let her into our Christmas traditions, and maybe even start some new ones that include her... I want to know for sure that she'll be here next year."

"Sweetie..." He took a step closer to her, trying to get away, at least a little, from all of the foot traffic. "That's not the kind of thing you can ever know for sure. But I can assure you that I know what's at stake. We both do. Why do you think it's taken us so long to get to where we are? The last thing either of us wants is to mess up our friendship. And I know that if you start to get close with her, that puts even more pressure on us to stay together. But I want that to happen. I want you two to get along. Because I really believe that, however our relationship might change, she's always going to be in my life. So, by extension, she'll be in yours. And yeah, I know I've believed that before. But it's different with her. She's different. I'm different. I just think…"

He trailed off, and Alexis interrupted. "You love her." She started walking again, merging back into the flow of pedestrians.

Rick stood there frozen for a second too long and had to break into a kind of trot to catch up with her again. "I—uh—well—yes, but—it's not like I've never been in love before. This is different."

"It's real," Alexis supplied. She remembered what her grandmother had said about her father growing up. It made more sense now than it had at the time.

"Yeah. It is. And that's a little scary, but somehow I know it's right. Is this making sense to you? Because I don't even know if it's making sense to me."

"You know," she said slowly, "it is. You really believe that she's always going to be a part of your life?"

He nodded soberly. "I really, really do."

"Then we need to show her a real Castle family Christmas, don't we?"

He beamed. "Yes, we do."

She ducked out of the crowd toward the entrance of a nearby store. "But first we have to finish our present-shopping."

* * *

**A/N****:** So this was kind of an extra-short chapter, but hopefully it works. I... don't have too much to say about it, so I'll leave you to your opinions. Leave them if you please. :) Happy writer = faster updates. For real. So leave lots of reviews, because I need to finish this semi-soon. :P


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** I have a nice long chapter for you this time. :) Hope you like it!

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?" Kate asked for about the tenth time that day.

"It's absolutely fine," Rick assured her as he put on his coat.

"Alexis? Martha? We won't go unless it's okay with all of you. Or I can just go, and you guys can do whatever you'd normally do. I think I know you guys by now. You have traditions for everything. I know you have Christmas Eve traditions, you just won't tell me what they are. But I don't want to keep you from doing what you always do."

"Darling, Christmas should be spent with family," Martha said.

"Right." Castle nodded. "So the only tradition that really matters is spending it together. You've been hanging with our family all this time. The least we can do is hang with you and your dad for one night, especially if he won't come to dinner tomorrow."

"I did ask him, I told you that. He wasn't into it. I think that would be a lot to ask. We've been ignoring Christmas since my mom died. We usually have dinner if I'm not working, but we don't talk about it, we don't exchange gifts… This is just dinner. Just because I'm not going to see him tomorrow. It doesn't have anything to do with it being Christmas Eve. So if you don't want to come, I completely understand."

"Kate, you've already explained all of this." Rick smiled. "He's expecting us, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not a big deal…"

"We're going," he insisted. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"What about you, Alexis?" Kate asked stubbornly before joining Rick by the door. "You've been quiet. Are you sure this is okay? You can say no."

She had been quiet, and not by accident. She wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of spending Christmas Eve at Kate's father's house when she didn't even know him and Kate was right. She had her own Christmas Eve traditions that were being overlooked. But Martha was right too. Everyone should get to spend Christmas with their family. And if they were really going to welcome Kate into their family for Christmas, they had to welcome her father as well. "It's fine," she said, smiling in a way that she hoped Kate couldn't tell was forced. She joined her father and grandmother by the door.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." She smiled for real this time, not because she suddenly really wanted to go, but because it was cute how desperately Kate wanted to be sure she didn't mind.

"Okay. Let's go."

* * *

Jim Beckett's building wasn't much different from the others that surrounded it. It was a bit more modest than the Castle loft, but it was still very nice. A Christmas tree greeted them in the lobby, its white lights twinkling hello.

Kate led the way, followed closely by Rick, but not quite allowing him to walk beside her. She almost seemed nervous, although Alexis couldn't work out why. If anyone should be nervous it was them, not her. She already knew everyone who was going to be there tonight. There shouldn't have been anything unsettling about going to see her father, and she'd certainly shown that she was comfortable enough around the Castle family over the course of the last week.

They passed the doors to a few other apartments. A lot of them were decorated with wreaths and garlands. One door was even framed in Christmas lights. As they passed it, Castle murmured something to his daughter about how they should try that next year. But the door Kate stopped in front of was undecorated. Remarkably plain.

She knocked, and before long her father came to the door. Alexis had met him before, but only briefly. He was tall, like Kate, and there may have been some vague family resemblance between them, but she didn't really think they looked much alike. However,that didn't really surprise her, because she'd never thought she looked all that much like her father either.

Jim smiled at the group standing in his hallway and ushered them inside. "Good to see you all," he said in his standard soft-spoken manner. "Thanks for coming."

There was a small living area inside the doors. As directed, they sat down on the couch. Kate hung back and hugged her father hello before sitting down next to Castle.

Alexis took the time to glance around the apartment. Kate had said that this wasn't going to be a celebratory evening, but there were no Christmas decorations. None at all. No tree. No wreath. No Santa Claus. No nativity scene. Nothing. The rest of the city, even the rest of the building, had transformed itself into a winter wonderland. Had the man who lived here even noticed?

_Yes_. From everything Kate had told her and everything she believed, Alexis was absolutely sure that he had noticed. And that seemed even more tragic. His wife had once loved Christmas, as, she could tell, had his daughter. He probably had too, once. But now, with his wife gone, the season had become so painful for him that he just let it pass by without acknowledging it. But he saw. He saw the city lights turn red and green. He saw the tree in the lobby of his own building. And he knew. He knew that is was Christmas time, yet another season that he couldn't spend with the woman he loved. And with that knowledge, he opted not to spend it at all. For him, Christmas was over. It was a quaint memory from the past that he didn't plan to carry with him to the future.

Was this the way Kate's Christmases had been until now? Passed over here, with her father? In an apartment that on any other day would have been very nice, but on this particular evening seemed so empty? It didn't seem right. If Kate's mother had enjoyed this time of year so much, shouldn't her family embrace the fond memories they had of years past rather than ignoring it altogether? But this wasn't Alexis's family, it wasn't her life, and it wasn't her business. It was like Kate had told them. Tonight was simply dinner. It wasn't Christmas Eve dinner. It was technically, but they weren't celebrating. It was just dinner.

* * *

The meal went well. Kate's father was nice, and he seemed appreciative that they were there. He'd made a roast chicken, and it was delicious. Neither Alexis's dad nor her grandmother said anything unusually inappropriate. Nothing at all would've been weird if Alexis could do as Kate had suggested and forget that it was Christmas Eve. But she couldn't. And that made what should've been a comfortable dinner feel a little strained.

After she finished eating, Alexis excused herself to go to the restroom. She followed Jim's directions around the corner and down a short hallway, and for some reason her attention was drawn to an end table that stood against a wall just beyond the bathroom. It was a pretty piece of old-fashioned furniture, wooden with designs carved into the legs. But what really caught her attention was the single picture frame that stood on it. She went to it and looked closer.

It was a family. Exactly the kind of family she'd often wished for when she was young. In the picture were two adults with their arms around each other, with a little girl between them, probably seven or eight. And the woman… if Alexis had only glanced at the picture, she might've assumed it was Kate. But upon further inspection, her hair was a little darker and a little shorter, her clothes a little out of date, and her face just a little more worn. And if the man in the picture was Jim, which, yes, as she looked she determined that it was a younger version of the man she'd just spent the evening with, the woman in the picture was significantly shorter than Kate. But there was no denying that they looked a lot alike. The little girl in the picture, she realized, was Kate. The woman was her mother. For the first time, she was seeing Johanna Beckett.

Alexis found herself wondering how much would've been different if Kate's mother was still alive. Her first thought was that she wouldn't be here right now. That Kate wouldn't have become a police officer and would never have met her father. But maybe that wasn't it at all. Her dad had always raised her to believe that anything was possible. What if there really was some kind of fate? Some kind of magic about love? Maybe Kate and Alexis's father really were meant to be together. Maybe, if Johanna hadn't been killed, she would still be here this very night with her father and her grandmother, sitting at a table of six with a tree in the background, trying to figure out how to blend the traditions of two complete families.

Briefly, Alexis wondered if that would've made this Christmas any easier. If Kate had been used to celebrating Christmas with her family, if she'd had her own traditions, her own little things that she did every year, and hadn't needed to latch onto and slightly alter the traditions of the Castle family, would Alexis have resented her less at the beginning? _No_, she realized. It still would have been different. Kate and her father still would have wanted to spend the holiday together, and having another person around automatically changed certain things. And as someone coming home from college for the first time expecting to find everything as she'd left it, any kind of change would have been hard for her. But change didn't have to be a bad thing. That was what she was trying to learn to accept. And she was getting there.

She really did like Kate, and she understood that she was good for her father. And that her father was good for Kate. They worked well together. They made each other happy. And even though it wasn't tradition, it was fun having Kate around. Really, if she thought about it, it wasn't such a huge change after all. It was just a little something different to keep things interesting. And it was nice.

She liked Kate's father as well, and the more she thought about it, the more it made her sad that she'd never get to meet Johanna. She knew very little about her, but for her death to have such a profound effect on her family, she must really have been someone special. Kate lived every minute of her career, and most of her life, trying to avenge her mother's murder and live up to her memory. And then there was Kate's father. He kept this picture in the hallway, in a place where he doubtless saw it often, to remind him of what his life, his family, had once been like. At the same time, he'd stopped celebrating Christmas because the memories it brought him were too painful. To Alexis it seemed a little contradictory, but she obviously didn't feel what he felt, so she chose to withhold judgment.

But on her way back to the living room for dessert, Alexis passed a phone table, on which rested a stationary pad and a pen. Going on a whim, she ripped off a piece of stationary, wrote a short message on it, and left it on the end table with the picture frame.

Then she went back to her family. Her dad and Kate were sitting together on the couch. For a brief moment she pictured herself between them, as Kate had been between her parents in the picture. But she realized that wasn't her place, and sat down beside her grandmother on the loveseat. Jim brought in large slices of chocolate pudding pie for each of them, and sat in the armchair with his own.

She felt a little guilty then for ever feeling alone just because her father had Kate in his life. She couldn't even imagine how Jim must feel. His daughter was the only family he had left, and now she had Rick. Alexis saw the way he looked at the couple and knew that he was happy for his daughter, purely happy that she'd found happiness. It was the definition of maturity. The definition, really, of love.

Alexis thought of the note she'd left on the end table, and didn't feel an ounce of regret that she'd written it. Maybe it wasn't her place, maybe it was none of her business, but then, maybe, in some way, it would help. Everyone, she thought, should be able to spend Christmas with people who cared about them.

On one side of the paper, the side she'd left facing up, she'd written simply:

_ Merry Christmas, Mr. Beckett._

_ -The Castle family_

Somehow, she knew that he'd see it. If he so chose, he could crumple it up and throw it away, and that would be that. But then maybe he wouldn't. Maybe it would intrigue him, and he'd pick it up for a closer look, and realize that on the back she'd written her address and "_Dinner starts at seven."_

* * *

**A/N**: I realize that we're getting to the end of the Christmas-ish season here, so I'm really trying to wrap this up. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week. We'll see how that works out. I really don't want to have to leave this for another whole year. That seems like a bad plan.

I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I think there's some good stuff in here, but it's almost all description and internal monologue... which... I wish I would've been able to work in more dialogue. But I do like the content, and hopefully you did too. :) Thanks for reading! And reviews are always nice. :)


	15. Chapter 15

No matter how old she got, there was something about Christmas morning that made it easier to wake up than any other day of the year. During her break so far, Alexis had fallen into the habit of getting out of bed as late as ten or eleven o'clock. But on Christmas morning, she woke at nine easily, and found that she was no longer even the least bit tired.

She was debating going out to the kitchen to make coffee and wait for everyone else to wake up when she heard noises out in the hallway that led her to believe they already had. She heard her dad's bedroom door close softly, and the sound of deliberately hushed voices.

Somewhat amused, Alexis went out to meet them. "You know you don't have to sneak around in the morning anymore, right Dad?" she said. "I know Santa doesn't really bring the presents while I'm asleep."

"Oh hey, you're up," he greeted her. "But that's not what we were doing. I just didn't want to wake you."

She looked from her father to Kate, who had spent the night. Both were already dressed and wearing jackets, as if they were about to go outside. "What _are_ you guys doing?" she asked. "You know it's Christmas morning, right? Please don't tell me you got called into work."

"No, no, nothing like that," Kate cut in quickly. "This is just… my one Christmas tradition."

Alexis frowned, still not understanding. "What, exactly?"

"Going to see my mom."

Her mind was still tired, and it took her a second to put together exactly what Kate meant by that, but finally she did, and she nodded. "Oh. Got it."

"We were hoping to get back before you got up," her father explained. "Do you mind waiting until we get back to open presents and everything?"

How much of a jerk would it make her if she said she minded? Sure, every other year she, her father, and her grandmother had opened presents first thing on Christmas morning. And when she was a little kid, nothing would have stopped her from opening her gifts within the first hour that she was awake. But now she was more or less an adult, and this year more than any other, she realized that she didn't much care what presents she got. She also realized just how sad it was that the only tradition Kate had that truly belonged to her and that she wasn't willing to give up was going to the cemetery on Christmas morning. "Of course I don't mind," she said. And she meant it.

"Good. Why don't you find your grandmother? I think she's in the kitchen."

* * *

With some help from Martha, Alexis prepared a kind of Christmas morning feast, complete with snowman-shaped pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. She was just flipping one of the final pancakes when her father and Kate returned from their pilgrimage.

"Please don't tell me you did all this for me," Kate sighed when she saw the state of the kitchen. She looked a little drained, and Alexis reflected on how it must have felt to begin every Christmas morning with a sharp reminder that her mother wouldn't be present, but she was smiling.

Alexis shrugged. "Well, not really. We always like to do a big breakfast on Christmas morning. I just thought it would be nice to do it a little earlier this year."  
Her father made his way to the stove and kissed the top of her head. "Good thought," he said into her hair. Then he slid the spatula out of her hand and took over with the pancakes. "Snowmen?" he asked, smiling.

"Those are new?" Kate asked, grinning. "I figured they were another one of your traditions."

"Usually I do Christmas trees," he said seriously.

Alexis blushed. "The snowmen seemed easier. And I thought they were cute…"

"They're perfect," Kate insisted. "I love them."

"They are very cute," Castle confirmed. "And if they didn't smell so good I might almost feel guilty about beheading them." He tore the head off of a pancake that was waiting on a plate nearby.

"Oh," Martha admonished, hitting her son's arm. "Sit down, sit down. We didn't do all this work so we could stand around eating it in the kitchen."

"Geez, she's Miss Manners all of a sudden," he teased, looking at Kate. "We'd better sit down or we might get hit with a rolling pin."

"Pancakes are done," Alexis announced, removing the last one from the griddle. "Sit, everyone. You too, Gram. Everything else is out."

Martha obliged and Alexis got to the table last with a huge platter of pancakes. She put two on everyone's plate and left the platter in the middle of the table. Then she poured coffee into four mugs and took her seat between her father and grandmother. "Okay," Alexis said with an energized sigh, "dig in."

* * *

"I think you have one more, Kate."

All four of them were sitting in the living room near the tree, almost dwarfed by the large piles of crumpled wrapping paper surrounding them.

"You crazy people gave me too much already," Kate mock-complained, looking at the last small box as though opening it would be very taxing. "I haven't had this many Christmas presents since I was a kid."

"Exactly," Castle said, smiling. "Think of it as making up for lost time."

She smiled and looked at the tag to see who it was from. Then she looked at Alexis seriously. "You didn't have to get me anything," she said before she touched the wrapping, as if giving the younger woman an opportunity to take it back.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to get me anything either, and you gave me those adorable boots," Alexis reminded the detective, pointing out the box that was sitting close to her on the floor. "Open it."

"Okay." She opened it carefully, starting at one corner, as though trying not to tear the paper. That seemed to be her way with gifts, to open the paper slowly, prolonging the surprise. Castle's, on the other hand, was to rip the paper off as quickly as possible.

Inside was a small, flat cardboard box, gold in color. As slowly and carefully as she'd peeled away the paper, Kate removed the lid and pulled out what was inside: a silver chain with four small charms dangling from it. "This is pretty," she said, looking at it. "What are these?" She examined each of the charms in turn, and smiled.

Alexis had chosen each charm specifically before attaching them to the bracelet. There was a police badge, a pen, a pair of drama masks, and a book. It hadn't been an expensive gift, but she'd put a lot of thought into it, and she hoped that Kate understood what she'd been meaning to convey, because she wasn't sure it was obvious. Each charm was supposed to represent a member of her family. She'd meant it as a subtle way of telling Kate that she was a part of it, but she was afraid that it was a little too subtle.

But from the way she smiled as she examined the tiny silver badge, having already looked at all the others, Alexis could tell that she got it. "I love it," she said earnestly. She clasped it around her wrist with skill. "Thank you, Alexis."

* * *

Alexis noticed the time when she was helping her grandmother set the table for dinner and felt her heart sink considerably. It was after seven, and although dinner hadn't started yet, Mr. Beckett had clearly decided not to come.

She hadn't really expected him to. Kate had said he wouldn't. That it would be too much Christmas for him to handle all at once. She remembered how overwhelmed Kate had been at the Christmas party, how she'd hidden in Castle's study for a little while to escape some of the chaos and merriment, and the impression Kate had given was that her father was even less willing to embrace the holiday than she'd been. But still, for some reason that she couldn't explain, Alexis had thought that Jim would find her note and come. She had a feeling it would've meant a lot to Kate to have a real Christmas dinner with her father, even if she wouldn't say so. Plus, Alexis hated the idea of the older man spending the evening, Christmas evening, alone in an apartment that was completely devoid of holiday cheer. She wouldn't wish that for anyone, let alone the father of someone she'd really grown to care about.

"I'm putting the turkey out," Castle called from the kitchen.

"Feel free, we're done," Alexis replied.

But before Rick came out of the kitchen, the doorbell rang. "Who would that be?" he wondered.

Alexis thought she knew, and she hoped that she was right. "I'll get it," she offered.

She opened the door to a slightly sheepish-looking Jim Beckett. "I'm sorry," he said when he saw her. "I'm late, aren't I? Traffic was worse than I anticipated."

Alexis beamed, glad he'd come. "Not at all. You're right on time. Come in."

"You're the one who left that note last night, aren't you?" he asked before stepping inside.

She nodded.

"Thank you."

She nodded again, a little awkwardly. "You're welcome." She took a step toward the kitchen, where everyone else was still gathered and nodded for him to follow. He did.

"Gram, set another place at the table," she directed when her grandmother came into view. "We have one more for dinner."

Before Martha could respond, Kate saw the new guest and beamed. "Hey, dad." She hugged him. "I thought you weren't coming?"

"I changed my mind," he said. "As long as I'm still welcome."

"Oh, absolutely. I'm so glad you came."

"Have a seat, everyone," Martha announced grandly. "Richard was just about to start carving."

"I think we need to toast first," Rick said as everyone got settled into their chairs. He poured champagne for himself, Martha and Kate, and sparkling cider for Alexis and Jim. "To the first, but hopefully not last, annual Castle-Beckett-Rodgers family Christmas dinner."

"To new traditions," Alexis added. She clinked her glass with each other person's in turn. This Christmas had certainly been different from years past. But she looked forward to more like it.

* * *

**A/N:** Not the best wrap-up chapter I've ever written, but it'll do. Hope you enjoyed this story! It's well after Christmas now, but at least I finished it! No waiting 'til next year for updates this time. :) Thanks for reading! And, um, merry belated Christmas! And happy belated New Year! And all that good stuff! :P


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